Family Danger
by LusciousNesha
Summary: Life after high school for the Captain Man/Junk-N-Stuff family as it changes and grows as Charlotte selects a future different than what the team may have imagined post graduation. Chenry Endgame.
1. Danger Notice

_Hi. I am probably WAY TOO OLD to be invested in Henry Danger, but I've loved that show for a while now and recently had an idea for a Chenry fanfic, so here we are. Seasons 1 through current (Cactus Con) will be the universe, but from here to the future, it's all my brainchild. Hopefully, it's enjoyable. I have no idea what type of audience this is for, but hopefully someone enjoys it. Let me know. BTW - do folk still say, "I don't own Henry Danger or profit off of the use"? There._

 **Danger Notice**

They knew this day would eventually come - and considering that Charlotte Page had once been used by a teacher as a standardized test cheat sheet to her peers, her being the valedictorian was no surprise either. But, for some reason, her two best friends seemed very taken aback when she put in her notice at Junk N' Stuff, because she was getting ready to go away to college.

" _Away_ to college?" Henry Hart repeated, after her.

"Right. Like… A very prestigious institute that is unfortunately not located inside of Swellview," she clarified.

"But, you _don't have_ to go there, right?" Jasper asked.

She blinked her eyes. "I don't _have to_ do anything. I _want to_ go there, because it's an awesome opportunity and I can possibly become one of the world's greatest minds while I'm there."

Henry and Jasper both nodded, understanding. She was relieved until Henry followed up with, "But, you're not going to move away and leave this job, though."

"I definitely am," she assured him.

Jasper wondered, "So, you _have to_ go there!" She sighed. She would not miss this. Of the things that she would miss, these circular conversations that she was the only one keeping up with was nowhere on the list.

Moments later, their boss Ray stepped into the Man Cave, seemingly excited about something that he was going to announce, but Henry quickly cut him off with a silencing noise, "Da-da-da-da-da… Ray!" He stopped suddenly, wondering if something was in his hair. _Not my precious hair!_ "So… You should soon be reading an email from Charlotte," Henry heavily enunciated her name, "About her putting in her two weeks notice, to go leave this job when she goes away to college."

Ray was momentarily relieved that this wasn't about his hair, but then quickly became angry, "AWAY to college?"

"Why is that difficult for everyone?" Charlotte asked, mostly herself.

"I mean, do you HAVE to go?" Ray followed up his question. Henry and Jasper both gave knowing looks _That was precisely how they saw it._

Charlotte cut this circle in half. "Yep. I have to. Sorry, Ray. No getting out of it." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, we're gonna get you out of it!" he promised.

"No, no. YOU stay out of it," she warned. "I don't need any help from any of you. Can't we just enjoy the last couple of weeks that I have here, working together and being friends?" She smiled, hoping that the three would drop it, lest they sabotage her dreams. Just her luck, Schwoz entered, holding a pail of something that she was certain she didn't want to know about.

"Guess what Charlotte is thinking about!" Ray said, also enunciating her name.

"Not thinking about. Doing. It's a done deal…" She said softly.

"Leaving us!" Ray pouted, crossing his arms. Schwoz dropped the pail and several odd oblongs slapped the floor.

"My jelly balls!" he whined.

"I'll help you pick those…" Charlotte began, but they appeared to be moving on their own, so she decided against it.

"You see that? He's dropped his jelly balls, Charlotte!" Henry complained.

"That was Ray's fault. Schwoz wouldn't have dropped those blobs if he'd said, _'Guess what - Charlotte is fortunate enough to have the chance to go to college away from Swellview.'_ "

"How will you work here _and_ go to college away from Swellview?" Schwoz wondered, finally collecting those moving jellies. Charlotte simply looked off into the distance and thought of about a dozen memes that she wished she could flash them right now.

"Well, if nobody has anything positive while we work today, I might as well head out," she announced.

"OH! Now, you don't even wanna spend your last two weeks with us?" Henry asked.

"I WANT my closest friends to congratulate me and wish me well. I want my boys to say "Way to go, Charlotte. We're proud of you!"

Jasper nodded his head, "Way to go Charlotte. We're proud of you!"

"Thanks, Jasper." Henry and Ray groaned and glared at him for that.

"Don't _encourage_ her, Jasper. Make it hard!" Ray said, shaking his head in disbelief that he had to explain this.

Jasper frowned, "But, she's our friend and she seems happy about it."

"I was," she mumbled. "I'm gonna head out," she told them, with a sigh. "Good luck with whatever those jelly things are, Schwoz." She shook her head, frustrated with Ray and Henry, mostly Henry, and got on to the pad. "Up the tube," she said in a sad voice.

Henry sighed and threw his head back, "We gotta fix that, Dude," he told Ray.

"Fix Charlotte trying to leave? Definitely. What if we blow up the institute, like we did the Frittle factory?"

"No. I mean, we gotta make sure that she doesn't hate us when she leaves. I mean, Jasper's right. She's a friend. She really wants this science nerd school thing."

Ray kicked his feet in disagreement. "Dude! Remember that time that we messed up her inventor contest? Or the time I messed up her getting into the L.I.M.P. program?"

"We fixed all of that!" Ray insisted.

"I mean… We fixed it, but we didn't _Charlotte_ fix it."

"She's very high maintenance!" Schwoz inserted.

Henry shrugged, "Is she? She puts up with a lot from us, I think?"

Jasper nodded in agreement. "From you and Ray, definitely."

Henry scratched the back of his own ear, "Ya mind not helping, Jasp? You're not good at speaking Ray." Jasper made a confused face, but shut up. Henry turned to Ray again and said, "We need to _at least_ let her think we support this dream of hers. If I know my Charlotte, she'll do what's best for me, in the long run."

"So, we _don't_ blow up the institute?"

"We won't have to. Look, she might leave Captain Man, but she's not leaving Kid Danger."

Ray nodded for a moment before realizing what was said and shouted, "Hey!"

"You're the hard time giver, Ray. Face it."

"I treat that little girl like the best worker in this place!" he fussed.

"She _is,_ but… _Do_ you?" Henry asked, his voice going a little high pitched.

"Okay. okay. You fix it, then. And Charlotte better not leave this place!" Ray fussed.

"She won't," Henry said. Ray left, flustered and Henry turned to Jasper, "Charlotte's totally leaving us."

"But you just said…"

"I had to convince Ray not to blow up her college."

"What… are we gonna do without Charlotte?" Jasper seriously wondered.

"Captain Man had a working operation before me or Charlotte ever got here," Henry said, then realized something, "OH… What are _we_ gonna do?" He sighed. He had never thought about life without Charlotte, before. He never thought that he would ever have to.


	2. Growing Pains

_So, this chapter is a little longer than the last, and probably more near how long the chapters may be. I usually write pretty long chaps - hope that's ok. Thanks for the first reviews IDB Ninja and QTFics. :D_

 **Growing Pains**

Charlotte hadn't answered Henry's or Jasper's calls. They figured that she must have been super upset about their previous lack of support, but really, she was busy with rewriting her speech for a countless time, packing necessities, then unpacking them to use them, because she had packed far too soon, and thinking of all of the really cool responses that she should have had for those guys but didn't think of until after the fact.

Naturally, for them, her silence meant to stop by her house. Fortunately, Jasper had the bright idea to bring her nice snacks, though Henry insisted on doing the talking. "I speak Charlotte better than you!"

"We're _both_ Charlotte's friend! This isn't like speaking Ray!" Jasper fussed, until the door opened and Charlotte's mom told them that the girl said she wasn't to be disturbed unless it was one of her friends from work or her boss. The boys knew that to mean _if there's a Man Cave emergency,_ but they totally were gonna take advantage of the specifics of her word choice.

They found her in her bedroom, with neatly arranged packed luggage against the wall and not too neatly arranged open luggage on the bed. She was shuffling through it when Henry cleared his throat and caught her by surprise. She furrowed her eyebrows, "Is there a work emergency?"

"Yeah. Everybody at work was really mean to our friend about her recent news. She left kinda sad. Didn't feel good about it."

She nodded her head and pulled a menstrual cup in a mesh baggie from her briefcase, figuring they wouldn't recognize it one way or another. "Well, imagine how it felt for her."

"Especially considering," Jasper added, looking at her hands.

She lifted it in the air and said, "Well, I gotta handle this. Thanks for stopping by."

"Handle what?" Henry asked.

Jasper and Charlotte said, in unison, fondly, "Oh, Henry," and shook their heads. She disappeared into the bathroom and Henry frowned.

"Despite whatever just happened, I still speak Charlotte better than you!"

"Working Charlotte, maybe. But I've got inner Charlotte in the bag."

"Speaking of bags, what WAS that?"

Jasper sighed, "Girl stuff, Henry. That was girl stuff."

Now, Henry shook his head and made his way to the door. "Nooooope. I don't speak that Charlotte at all!" She came out of the bathroom in a change of clothes and glowing. Henry paused to stare for a moment, but pointed a thumb at the door. "We were gonna go back to work and let you deal with your… thing."

"Well, I've showered and changed, so it's dealt with, but enjoy work." She closed up her open luggage and added them to the others. "See you tomorrow."

…

Tomorrow came and Charlotte showed up for work after a StuCo meeting. "How is there still stuff for you to do this close to the end of your high school career?" Henry wondered when she declined from riding to work with he and Jasper. But, the meeting was starting, so she didn't bother replying.

When she made it into work, she stepped off of the elevator and the guys all became silent. "H, heyyy, Char…"

"Hey? What's going on?" She looked suspicious at everyone, especially when they all began giving different answers. _Only 2 more weeks of this._ She smiled and shook her head, "Well, I got corn dogs on the way. And excellent news - the line wasn't long and the dogs are fresh." She set them down on the table and unloaded her bag from her shoulder. "Piper is surprisingly great at StuCo leadership. I guess all those years as president of the Man Fans has paid off…" Nobody was grabbing a corn dog and nobody had spoken. "Seriously, guys. What gives?"

Schwoz braved an answer, "We don't want to make any sudden moves."

"Is there something in here? Schwoz! Did you unleash something dangerous again?"

He mumbled, "No, this is Mother Nature's fault…"

Jasper sighed and admitted, "I had to give a brief run through of lady biology. Someone blabbed that it was your time. I'm not saying it was Henry, but it wasn't me…"

She laughed, "Well, you all do realize that I've been a girl this entire time, right? That I've come in here very many days over the years when my biology was doing what it does…" They began to make sounds to drown her out and try to change the subject. She yelled over their grumbles, "I started my first period in this very place!"

Ray yelled back, "COME ON! We eat here!"

"Jasper, I don't think your biology chat helped," she said. "All of you are going to end up alone forever if you don't learn to normalize women's experiences. I'm starting to feel like you guys want me to leave sooner rather than in two weeks."

And now they remembered the inevitable. They had lost Charlotte to a bright new world. Henry was the first to step up. "No, Char. We were simply trying to make sure we didn't do anything else to upset you, while you're here." He looked to Ray for back up.

Ray rolled his eyes but admitted, "The reason that everyone was such a butt about you leaving is because we want you to stay. It's a testament to the value you have here." She couldn't help but to smile about it, but the subject was cut short when an alert came through and she rushed to the command center to get to work.

...

Honestly, the end of the school year usually meant out of hand parties, teenager car crashes and because of it elevated small crime levels. This year, another issue was added into the mix. There was an online poll about Kid Danger's age and kids everywhere were really into the idea of finally figuring out who he must be.

Trent Overunder and Mary Gaperman reported on it just a week before graduation. Trent stated, "And in the recent poll," a photo of Kid Danger with the question in red ' _Is He REALLY Still a Kid?'_ "Citizens of Swellview, teenagers in particular are asking themselves, is KID Danger _really_ still a KID?"

Mary smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "Well, Trent. We're still calling the Boystreet Boys, who we all know are 40+ by their original name. I think we all just like the novelty of Kid Danger. It's cute."

Henry grumbled, "Cute? It's not cute. It's dangerous, and valid!"

Charlotte added, "Well, I've no doubt that you'll always be a kid."

"Thank you!" He thought for a moment, then said, "Hey!" She just chuckled, as Trent replied over Mary.

"And since we know that Kid Danger has been Captain Man's sidekick for at least 5 years, our initial age range of a child between the ages 11 and 14 may indicate that the kid is all grown up, now."

"So, naturally kids in town are wondering, is our beloved Kid Danger now a Man Danger and if so - is there an opening for a new superkid in Swellview?"

Henry pulled out his gumballs.

"What are you doing?" Charlotte wondered.

"I've got to make a statement. We've got kids out there trying to steal my job. Reporters out there making me sound washed up. A poll about my future, run by a bunch of people clueless about my future!"

She frowned, "Henry, have you ever thought that maybe you giving it energy will only make it blow up worst? They'll think - we've hit a nerve, and do even more to find out who you are. Everyone who counts knows who Kid Danger is and we're not trying to replace him." She gave him a small, short shoulder rub and he put his gum away. Then, the news went on scene to his home, where they were speaking to Piper. "Good grief…" Charlotte began..

"As President of the Man Fans, and Kid Danger's BIGGEST fan - not up for discussion - I have mixed emotions about recent polls. Some say he's an adult, now. Some say he stopped aging right before he was to become a man and is somehow an eternal kid, like Peter Pan. Some say he's an alien who only took on the form of a kid, but really was always a man and got comfortable enough with himself to show his true form."

Charlotte mumbled, "This is all fanfiction gold…" To Henry's grunts.

Piper continued, "I say _who cares, Swellview?"_

Henry nodded, a little bit, "I think I like where she's going with this. Taking the heat off of Kid Danger's name. Getting the excitement dumbed down…"

"Why does Kid Danger always have to be a boy?" Piper asked.

Now, Charlotte smiled, "I think I like where _this_ is going." Henry just stared at the screen, wide eyed with his mouth agape.

"Seriously? Am I the ONLY PERSON who remembers that short time, when I was little that there was CLEARLY a girl Kid Danger for a moment? Then she vanished and NEVER showed up again? Don't get me wrong, I will ALWAYS support Captain Man and Kid Danger, but HELLO! There are GIRL kids too!"

"No, no, no, Piper… She made it worst! Now, the polls have added, IS Kid Danger a girl?" Henry complained, looking at his Pear pad.

Charlotte chuckled as the news story died down and returned to general reports. "This place _could_ use some sensitivity training and diversity hires. With me being gone, Gooch only stopping in sometimes, and Bork, only when needed… This place is gonna be like a party movie frat house, when I'm gone."

"Charlotte, we know you're leaving, you don't have to keep rubbing it in. We also know that you're a woman. You can stop, now." She turned and pointed a finger at him, and he threw his hands into the air and said, before she could, "Never tell a woman to stop!"

" _When_ she's not harming you," she added the qualifier, after a particularly crazy day where Gerta was reacting on one of Charlotte's feminist tangents and trying to 'squash the oppressive men.' To clarify, Charlotte was definitely for smashing the patriarchy, just not physically pummeling her idiot guy friends who benefited from it.

"It's just, it seems like that's all you talk about. The leaving thing, not being a woman. But, that for some reason is a lot more noticeable than it was before… Weird."

"It's easy to overlook little details like genetics when it comes to your close friends, considering you're not interested in them as a partner. But, as a friend, I think it's important for you guys to at least consider what I might be going through for different reasons. Not that we've got much time to fix that. I usually just told you that I was unwell whenever the _girl thing_ was bothering me. I got empathy, so it worked out better than the whole truth did. And, with me leaving, I think that I'm just trying to make it easier by not sweeping it under the rug. You know, facing it head on."

He sat beside her and admitted, "It's like facing a moving vehicle."

"Good thing you have hyper motility. You'll be able to save yourself from any harm." She took his hand, "You're the strongest guy that I know. I've watched you face much more scary stuff than little old me leaving town, and you always managed a victory, because you're tough. You're a hero, Hen. Heroism requires sacrifice, sometimes."

He stared at their hands, intertwined and reminded her, "You've been around for most of my time spent as a hero. Long before Jasper was brought into the fold. Shortly after I was struggling to keep it together as a kid with that much responsibility and not enough confidants. I don't know if I could have done this without you, and that makes me worry that maybe, I _can't_ do it without you."

She smiled sadly, "I may give you a hard time sometimes,"

"Most times."

"But, I essentially, I believe in you, Henry. Know why I've never joined the Man Fans?"

"Because it's been led by my psychotic sister?"

"Piper and I have never had any problems, if you still haven't noticed that. I never joined, because even though as a kid, I totally was into Captain Man, I met Kid Danger early enough to be his biggest fan. I was his biggest fan _before_ he was Kid Danger." She squeezed his hand. "Shift's over!" She cheered, let go of his hand and got up to go. Henry, on the other hand, was sitting there, dumbfounded and it was even harder to think about losing her, _now!_

…

The graduation was boring, but Charlotte's speech was incredible. She was supposed to come by the Man Cave for an after party, but wound up having to make appearances at several parties, all over the place before she could. When she did, she tried to turn in anything from work that she had in her possession, but Schwoz, too filled with emotions, insisted that she keep everything that she had.

Ray and the team wanted to drive her to college, but she insisted that this was one of those things that her parents wanted to do with/for her, so they agreed to merely follow, in Schwoz's van. After arguing with them for a while, she decided that she couldn't stop them and took it as a huge sign of love. Her parents were extremely perplexed by this, but allowed Henry and Jasper to ride with them and kindly told Ray, Schwoz and Bork that Charlotte could text them with any upcoming pit stops.

Jasper spent the ride talking to the Pages. Charlotte and Henry spoke up a few times, but were involved in their own little inside jokes and work anecdotes in code for a portion of the trip, until Charlotte fell to sleep and wound up leaning over on Henry.

 _I should move my arm and put it around her, just so her neck won't be rested on my shoulder like this. It's not ergonomic!_ He shifted a little and she stirred, but he rubbed her shoulder and she remained asleep.

 _That was just good logistics._ She began to stir again, seemingly having a nightmare and he whispered, "Char?" She paused, calmed down and stayed asleep.

 _That was just because I'm gooood._


	3. Waves of Thunder

**Waves of Thunder**

The Man Cave was in shambles ever since Charlotte left. _At least_ that was exactly how Henry made it out every time he called her for an emergency. She went with it a while. Henry was pretty dependent in some aspects and she _had_ only given him a couple of weeks to wrap his head around the changes. Eventually, though, she simply had to tell him very firmly that she couldn't continue to do this.

She had a job search. She had weekly labs. She was going out for an internship. She just… _couldn't_ coddle him. "Henry, Schwoz is standing right next to you. I can hear him breathing. The man taught me practically everything I know about the place. Turn to him for this help…"

"LAAAAAME!" Henry practically shouted. She just held the phone and blinked her eyes, with a sigh, staring ahead. He was about to say something when she started speaking to someone in her background.

"Hey. What're you doing here? I thought our thing was tomorrow?"

"I got here early for some meetings. Want me to go?" A guy said.

Henry suddenly and oddly felt bothered by this call intrusion. "Who dat?"

"No. I was just saying goodbye."

"No you weren't," Henry claimed.

But, she didn't hear him. Instead, she said into the phone, "Bye, Hen. Good luck on your mission."

"Oh, that's Henry? Heyyy, Henry!" He said into the mouthpiece.

She giggled the way that she had when she met Captain Man at Jasper's birthday party. Henry noted this because he didn't hear that type of behavior much from her. She wasn't very giggly. "Get outta my personal space, Max!" She said. Henry doubted she meant it from her giggling, and WHO was Max? "Max says 'Hi,' but also 'Bye' because you've got an emergency and we've got science things."

"What kinda science things?" Henry asked, but Ray shouted.

"Like, right now, Kid!"

Henry punched the enemy, but held onto his phone. Before Charlotte hung up he heard her say to this _Max,_ "From the sound of it, he's in the fight. Probably wouldn't remember you anyway." Her voice was fading as the phone headed for her bag. "He'll remember your sister."

"He still crushing on her?"

"Who knows?" And she hung up.

Henry was fighting as he put his phone away. He'd definitely look into this later! Who the jack was Max? And who was this sister of his that he had allegedly crushed on? And was she still hot? But more importantly, whether or not she was, who was that Max guy _to Charlotte?_

Science things were usually not discussed between them. To be frank, they bored him and she didn't need to waste her breath, for both their sakes. But _this_ sounded suspiciously like science things, but being enjoyed with a guy. A guy that made her giggle. A giggle with zero effort. It's not like he was jealous, but he probably should at least size this dude up. Charlotte never dated in school. Her parents didn't allow it. She could hang out with friends all day every day if she wanted, but no boyfriends and no dates. Only high school graduates could date in her house, an unfair stipulation, considering that she was an only child.

But, Henry was distracting himself. He and Ray bagged their bad guy and he headed home shortly after that.

…

He and Charlotte spoke a few more times, while playing on their live video games, and he called her a few times, but she apparently had gotten the internship she was shooting for. All she'd texted was, "Got my internship. Yay!"

But, her social media post had, "So grateful for this opportunity. The youngest intern for this program in a decade. The only freshman this year. Big ups to my parents, teachers, mentors, and special thanks to Max for so many nights of helping me with my entry project. #TheScienceBroIBeenWaitnFo" Then she included hearts, hugs and kisses emojis. Why hadn't _his_ text been so impassioned?

Henry stared at it for a while before going to the comments and reading an entire 46 comments thread of exchange between her and this guy.

To sum it up, Dude was super excited for her, and said so, and included a bunch of emojis of his own, and they spoke science here and there, some simple, some went over Henry's head, but the thing that didn't was Max's use of parentheses when he repeated Science "Bros."

Now… it was very much so possible that in the short span of time that Henry guessed she knew this dude, he'd quickly caught on to her penchant for not being a "bro," but since in this rare instance SHE used it, he figured that Max was hinting at something else and honestly, it was on his nerves.

He checked out the guy's page. "Maxy-T. Corny," he muttered. But, he looked familiar… Then, Henry saw photos of he and the sister. "Phoebe? This is Phoebe's brother, Max?" That dude was a villain, last time he knew of. Oh, but in his profile, it clearly stated that he'd left villainy behind to be the best hero he could be. Henry groaned, but couldn't force himself to leave the page. Mainly because there were a lot of photos of Char there. She wasn't tagged, so he hadn't seen them before, but the two of them were like… uncomfortably cozy.

One was of her in a lab of some sort, in her pajamas and protective gear, side-by-side with one of her at a science gala, all dressed up and… _surprisingly_ hot, Henry had to admit. The caption said: Get you a girl that can do both. And Charlotte had liked the post and commented with a smile and a wink. "Oh! Okay." Henry said, nodding as he continued stalking the page.

One was a video of Charlotte in this field of sunflowers, wearing sunflowers and doing one of those dance challenges. He… didn't know Char could dance like that! And then she levitated? Must have been with Max's help. The caption said: Hope floats. #DoYouLoveMe #SheGotMeInMyFeelings "EXCUSE ME?"

While he was yet stalking, dude went live. "Hey, we're here at Char's lab, working when we should be celebrating…"

She giggled from the background and said, "Oh, so you're gonna shade me like this? I steal your lab?"

"Charlotte's lab, that Charlotte built with her own two hands and is at working, everyday…"

Her face appeared on screen as she interjected, "He totally let me borrow his lab everyday. I was only pushy the first time!" They both laughed and exchanged looks and whatever the look was, Henry hated it.

…

Whenever they talked, she didn't mention Max, and whenever Henry brought him up, she laughed it off and changed the subject. One of the times that they were talking, Henry was in the Man Cave and Ray came upon their conversation. "Is that Charlotte?" He asked and rushed over, jumping into Henry and Charlotte's video call.

"Dude!"

"Hey, Ray!" Charlotte cheered and waved both hands.

"Charlotte," he folded his arms, "I've been told you're fraternizing with the kid that turned us over to a room full of villains."

"It's not that serious, Ray. We hang out. Besides, that's in his past. He's legit Z-Force, now. Actually, he loves pranks. I think that you'd get along with him, now."

"Oh because he loves pranks?" Ray asked.

Henry chimed in, laughing, "Yeah, just because he loves pranks."

Ray: I mean… I also love a good prank.

Henry: Yeah, a good prank is worth a lot to me.

Charlotte: He'll be here soon, if you wanna chat with him about the merits of a good prank...

Henry suddenly remembered his frustrations, "No! I was checking on you, because you two seem like you're _dating_. This guy's older, has had way more dates, probably. Probably has a lot of groupies."

"Superpower groupies," Ray added.

"The absolute most desperate of groupies."

"That isn't a lie," Ray bragged.

Charlotte told them, "The most insulting thing about this conversation is that both of you think that there's something that you would think of that I wouldn't."

Ray informed her, "We know how guys think."

"Oh yea? What do you guys think he's thinking about?"

They both stuttered and Ray finally answered, "Well, grown up sleepovers, for one."

"Yeah!" Henry seconded, then shuddered, "Gross."

"Oh, it's gross that someone would be interested in me?" Charlotte snapped. Henry tried to explain that wasn't what he'd meant, but she had ran with it, "For your information, I love grown up sleepovers and I'm told that I'm excellent at it!"

"I'm out," Ray said, leaving the conversation. Busting Charlotte's chops, maybe even giving that Max kid a hard time, he had been ready for, but one of his "kids" having grown up sleepovers? That was where he tapped out.

"Charlotte, that isn't what I was getting at, but wait, what? You've… _slept over_ with that dude? Do your parents know?"

"Do yours know about your… things?"

"That's different. My parents are super not attached. Yours used to have you keep tabs of where you were and who you were with in Goofle Drive." He laughed, remembering that.

"My parents know that I'm seeing Max and they support me, unlike my so-called best friend who hasn't had anything nice to say to me in months."

"Char.. I have had plenty of nice things. I just kept them to myself."

"That's helpful."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Match the wingperson energy that I gave you for every single girl you were interested in during the course of this friendship."

"I don't recall."

"I encouraged you to ask Bianca out, and after you made me regret it by basically making a fool of yourself, I _still_ motivated you to tell her how you felt before the world ended. And because of it, when the world kept existing, you'd gotten a kiss and a girlfriend!"

"Okay, that did happen, but…"

"Then you rejected my very helpful advice to NOT try to do a dual identity date with her and Chloe. And after you didn't listen, you spent most of the night isolating me from my other friends to try to advise you through a problem that I never would have been stupid enough to find myself in."

"Char…"

"And you never even said thank you, or more importantly SORRY!"

"I see your point."

"Henry, you once told me that you would never date me because I was like a sister to you."

"You said that you wouldn't date me because I was a dishonest idiot and it already complicated your life enough just being my friend!"

"And… that was true then and is true now. But, you're acting… not like my brother. You _don't_ pull this with Piper."

"I don't feel the same way about Piper as I do about you," he blurted out.

"Precisely. And like the idiot that I said you were, you waited until I found someone else, until you acknowledged this. I'm not Chloe, Henry. I'm not giving you a shot because you decided that you don't want to see me with someone else. Especially when I was there to witness her being neglected until she left for Kids in the Woods."

"I don't want to date you.'

"Good. Then there's no reason that you can't be supportive."

"Yeah. Well, I gotta go. Swellview emergency."

"Cool. Be careful out there."

"Will do."

…

 _Flashback_ :

 _Charlotte told Henry, "We should come up with a backup story. We'll need cover if Jasper is ever going to buy that we're dating. My cover is that we're keeping it a secret because my parents won't allow me to date. Easiest fiction is something steeped in the truth."_

" _Oh, yeah, your parents don't let you date. Now, you ewwwing at me makes sense."_

" _We made the sound at the same time, and that's not the reason that I did."_

" _Friends should never date. First off, you might ruin the friendship and on top of that, I mean, I see you like a sister. You understand."_

" _I don't understand any of that. If I were going to date, I'd definitely want the person to be my friend first. I want us to have common ground. I want us to have things that we can share together as friends even though we're dating. And, I have literally never thought of anyone as a sibling. Maybe it's because I am an only child, or maybe it's just because we have such different ways, you couldn't have possibly ever grew up as my sibling. My parents would have disowned you by now."_

" _Harsh, but realistic… WAIT! Then why'd you say EWWW?"_

" _I said ewww, because you're a dishonest idiot and it already complicates my life enough just being your friend."_

" _Charlotte, that's the rudest thing you've ever said to me… but it's maybe true, possibly."_

" _I don't need you to tell me that I'm making sense. What about your cover? Jasper will have so many questions and most of them, I'm sure he'll ask you."_

 _Henry waved her off, "Between the two of us, no matter what we say, he'll believe us."_

…

Having a hectic schedule, but still no paycheck was a bummer. Charlotte _really_ needed one of these searches to come through. As she played video games with Henry and Jasper, she complained about it on the headset.

"Why don't you see if Ray has something you could do from there?" Henry wondered.

"He's been a bit fussy with me since my notice. Henry, do you really think Ray might consider that?"

"Don't see why not. He often asks me 'Are you and Charlotte talking again? I have wanna ask her something!'"

"When were we not talking?"

"He only means that he knows I'm no longer a priority."

She paused for just a moment and her character was almost killed! She took a moment, put her head back in the game, and practically whispered, "You'll always be a priority, Hen." He smiled to himself, and even though she couldn't see him, she countered, "Don't be smiling."

 _ **A/N: I usually do these at the front, but I wanted to just tag this bit of info in here… I do not know WHO I got the idea of Charlotte + Max Thunderman, and I've seen very little of the Thundermans, so Idek none about them. If I'm OOC with him or whatever, charge it to my head and not my heart.**_


	4. Remotely Close

_**Sorry if y'all are reading the first versions of these. I'll be in and out to make corrections where I notice them, but my Google docs on my phone often ASSUMES text and I sometimes don't catch it. If some places things look unclear, that's likely what happened.**_

 **Remotely Close**

Charlotte's studio apartment, paid for by her parents _as long as_ she remained on the honor roll, was seriously her new favorite place. She had her bed upstairs, loft style mini bedroom and her office/lab beneath, with the kitchen across the way, and was basically an island kitchenette with various appliances and her little bathroom was enclosed near the sidewall, leaving the open space a "living room."

Now, Charlotte loved comfort. She kept everything pretty tidy, except the controlled chaos of her office, and she enjoyed designer _looking_ clothing, but wasn't huge on interior decoration. So, her place had rolling clothes racks that she erected a curtain in front of and used as her closet, because her small closet she made into a bookshelf.

She bought an indoor garden kit and set a few plants around the place, and also put a fiddle leaf fig tree near the wardrobe that she brought that literally only held her hair, skin, and hygiene products. Her living room had a round couch and an over-sized stuffed horse that she had for years, with a TV that she basically could never watch, because she didn't have time.

Her parents hated the thought of her trying to work while her school load was so heavy, but just because they were paying for most of her living expenses didn't mean that she didn't want money of her own. So the fact that Ray and Schwoz came all the way to set things up for her to work remotely from home, on behalf of the Man Cave was brilliant.

"How's Henry?" She wondered, as she helped Schwoz with wires and Ray played a game on his phone.

Ray asked, "Remember that time that second girl went into the woods on him?"

"Yeah?"

"Kinda like that, but not even funny. More… you know… sad. Mopier than EVER before. You know, I beat him at video games on a regular basis and he barely reacts to my gloating."

"I heard that Bianca was back in Swellview," Charlotte said.

"He doesn't care about whoever that is."

She paused her wiring and stared at him, "She's the girl who went on Kids in the Woods the second time. The one you just used for reference."

"Old news. Out of sight, out of mind."

"Gimme a pull," Charlotte said and Ray paused his game to pull her from beneath the workstation. She stood up and looked at the makeshift control center. "It'll do, right?"

Schwoz nodded, "The aesthetics are deceiving. It's as good as the one in the Man Cave." He put a Whiz Watch on her wrist, "And you have the Whiz Watch, now. It will make communication better and easier."

"Did Jasper get one too?" She asked excited.

"What are you, joking?" Ray asked.

Schwoz showed her a few controls she needed to learn. "This will get you into the main database, if you can't contact Henry or Ray. This is the one to press when you can't immediately answer."

"Oooh, will it tell you, 'Charlotte's unavailable at the moment. She's in class,' or something?"

"It can, if you want it to. I'll send you directions on how to reprogram for such messages."

"I already regret this," Ray complained.

"How about we make a deal that whenever you have to get the DND message from me, at my earliest convenience, I'll let you rant to your heart's content?"

"Whining is a lot better when it gets you attention," Ray said, nodding to himself. "It's a deal!"

…

She wished she had a time turner, like her favorite storybook bookworm. That could have made life so much easier. She and Max barely saw each other anymore, unless she stopped by his lab to work on something and he was actually there. He chose to give her access because of the busy, conflicting schedules. They tried aimlessly to make plans, but with everything else each of them had, there was no reasonable way to do it. They usually wound up stopping in with each other pretty late, and falling asleep a few minutes later. Most of the time, one of them had to get up earlier than the other and leave before they were awake.

Her electric bill was extremely high. Her parents insisted on coming by to investigate, because they surmised that she must have gotten involved in something illegal to run the bill up that high. She had to make an emergency call to Schwoz to hack into the system and redirect the information to reflect that the control panel in her place was a Captain Man operation. The Pages weren't told _that_ part. Merely that a glitch in the system had given Charlotte the wrong bill total. They still stopped in and investigated her situation.

They were curious about how often Max slept over, if they were official yet, if he was coming to Swellview for the holidays, if SHE was even coming…

"I'm definitely gonna try," she promised. That was a Charlotte "yes." Committing officially to an answer was sometimes tough, but letting someone down was one of her weakest spots. Especially Henry. Henry had practically begged her to come to the Man Cave when she visited her folks.

It became what she did. Visited her folks, hung out at the shop and worked, of course, slept at Henry's, generally up all night talking with he and Jasper, if Jasper tagged along. Borrowing Hen's pajamas if she left her things at her folks, then never returning them after she left the Hart house with them on.

Henry wasn't moving out any time soon, despite Piper's many campaigns to convince him to do so. What she didn't know was that he was Kid Danger and not looking to spend his sidekick paycheck on unnecessary bills when their parents were fine with Henry staying as long as he wished. They just wished that he "did something" with his life. He knew he was, so their thoughts didn't bother him.

"Couldn't hurt to have a backup plan, though,"Charlotte pointed out. He placed a hand over his chest, mock offended. She rolled her eyes at him. "You aren't invincible and I know that you're quick, but there have been plenty of times that you might have been killed if it weren't for sheer dumb luck. What's gonna happen when a bullet is faster than your reflexes?"

"What, like a magic bullet?" He said, laughing.

"Like a bullet made specifically to harm someone like you. Villains construct biological warfare for super-powered individuals far more than you probably realize. There's an entire database of villain scientists who specialize in weapons of super-powered specific destruction."

"What is this? Superhero pillow talk overflow from your grown up sleepovers with _Max."_

She didn't care for the way he'd said his name, but ignored that. "No, just our regular lab chat. Pillow talk between us is usually critique and commentary on the performance."

Henry's eyes widened and he laughed, "PLEASE tell me that it's on his performance."

"Mutual constructive criticism or compliments," she said, blushing a little. "But, it was definitely my idea."

Henry laughed, "I knew it! How butthurt was he the first time you had notes to help him improve?"

"Ummm, it wasn't like that. It was more like… I wanted to know, you know, if I could be as good at this as I am at everything else."

"Well? Are you?"

"Unless he's a great liar," she said and dusted off her shoulder. Henry smiled, but then out of nowhere, felt suddenly super depressed. "I'm sure that if you ask, the girls you spend time with will give you notes," she joked about the shift in his mood, during this current conversation.

He wondered, "What else would I even do?"

"You could be one of those guys who goes around clueless about women's bodies."

"No. Sorry. I don't want to think about you and Max, and _that._ I meant this suggested backup plan. I don't know if you remember, but when I set out to find a job, I had no skills. I was mediocre at everything. I didn't even FIND the job online, YOU did. Then, I put my all into Kid Danger. I respect my position and value my mission. It's the only thing that I've ever been so passionate about and so good at. How could I ever just… stop?"

"Henry, I only meant that the occupational hazards are high and you are capable of being hurt, or worse. If you… I don't know - lose a limb, or suffer irreparable brain damage - It'd be good to also be able to… I don't know - live without it all."

"Naw."

"Ok, then."

"I'm just saying, you don't understand what this is like for me. You just said it yourself - You're good at everything. You're even good at stuff you hate. Like, you hate dancing, but you were dancing on Max's GramChat, and you were amazing at that, too - something you don't even enjoy!"

"You follow Max's GramChat?"

"I'm good at ONE thing, Charlotte. And, I mean, what could be more important than making this difference?"

"Well, personally - I'm working SO HARD right now so that I can hopefully get my major accomplishments out of the way and either live off of one, or make enough to take a break and start a family."

"START a family? Char, you've had like one boyfriend."

"I've planned on starting a family after my major accomplishments before I even knew that he existed."

"So… you're not thinking of having like a family _with him."_

"There's no way of telling, this soon. It'll be years before I do this. I guess it's fine for you to settle down with Ray and just enjoy the fighting crime and bubble blowing until your body fails you and you have to work at Junk N Stuff."

"Wow. That sounded rude."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "How so?"

"I'm not gonna get married?"

"Do you _want_ to get married?"

"Probably!"

"Then, I guess you could, but how would that work, with your whole… "I'm only good at one thing and I'm not gonna try anything else, because I can do this one thing so great and I'll just do it forever" mindset?"

"You're misrepresenting what I said in a major way. I mean… Yeah, I don't wanna end up like Ray. I want to get married someday and have kids with a super hot wife. I mean, finding the time to meet someone is hard when you're me."

"I think it's hard for anybody. But, let's say you do find her… what happens next?"

"We fall in love, get married, have babies and I'm still Danger."

"You're a married man with children on a sidekick's salary and still called Kid Danger?"

"I'm… a superhero. Maybe MR. Danger."

"I need to know what the butt the woman who marries a MAYBE Mr. Danger, is like!" She couldn't help but to laugh.

"Hot. Smart. You know… perfect."

"So, why is she agreeing to this?"

"HELLO. Because she LOVES me."

"She MUST love you."

"I made her up, so yeah, Char. She does."

"Well, tell her that I only showed up for the cake."

"She doesn't want you there."

Charlotte scoffed, "She doesn't want ME at MY BEST FRIEND'S wedding?"

"Nope. She thinks we happened, and no matter how many times I assure her we didn't, she doesn't trust you."

"Oh! Okay. So I'm going to officially leave her name off of my godchildren's paperwork!" Charlotte snapped.

"Char…" he laughed. "She's not real."

"You're darn right, she's not!"

"I'd never get married if you couldn't be next to me." He squeezed her leg and she reflexively kicked. He froze. "Ouch."

"Sorry." She gathered her legs to herself and smiled awkwardly.

"They usually feel that way. I think girls can sense that you know all my secrets, meanwhile, I have to keep them at arm's length because of my oath." He shrugged his shoulders, "So, yeah - I probably won't ever get married."

"I'm really shocked that in a world where we have an ever growing population of heroes, sidekicks, and adjacents that there isn't some type of online dating for people within the superhero/secret identity community."

"You should make it."

"Superhero types are extremely secretive. They'd never trust that a supervillain wasn't behind it to gain access to secret identities."

"What if your site didn't require the secret identities? Like, if someone was in the business and wanted to date Captain Man, but they didn't know who he was and enter realizing that they might never know. Because they have a hero out there somewhere, they oughtta be more likely to accept the privacy, but still date someone who lives a discreet life, similar to theirs."

Charlotte nodded her head, thinking. "Okay, so we're doing this." She got up and rushed to Henry's computer with his pair of pajamas drooping on her smaller frame.

"We're what now?"

"We're gonna start a dating site for superheros, sidekicks, and adjacents. How's this tagline - Looking for love, but can only do so in the shadows?"

Henry laughed, went over and leaned over her at the computer. "Ummm. Sounds so corny."

"Okay. I'll mull over more ideas."

"Why are you doing this?"

She paused and looked at him, "The most important friend I have just told me that he has dreams of finding love, but knows it's probably not possible. I'm gonna increase his chances."

"You could…" _just date him…_ She was waiting for him to get whatever else out he seemed like he had to say. He never finished the thought out loud, though. She had Max. From what he saw, the guy treated her well. They were happy. He hated it, but what kind of man would he be, what kind of friend, if while she was about the try to launch a website for him to find happiness, he wouldn't just let her be happy where she already was.

"Henry, are you having an allergic reaction or something?"

"Huh? No. Lost my train of thought. You don't have to do this. I'm not gonna find love online."

"You and I both know that you can find _anything_ online. We found you a sidekick job online, and you said it's the one thing you're good at. (Though I have some disagreements). You might find your one true love online!"

His eyes smiled sadly and he shook his head, "Doubt that, but I can see that you're committed to this project, so I'm going to bed."

"Sleep tight!" She cheered, turning back towards his computer screen. "Love ya." She kept typing, and he kissed the top of her head and hugged her from the back. She didn't realize that they were casual kiss friends now, but this was an emotional project, so she didn't think too much into it at the moment. Maybe after she had some time.

…

Henry woke up fairly early. Charlotte was asleep in his bed, with an extra blanket wrapped around her. He grabbed his blanket and curled up around her before he fell back to sleep, mentally noting that she always smelled like coconuts. Charlotte stirred when Henry wrapped around her and turned over. They made eye contact, but both were pretty tired. She snuggled in closer to him and let him hold her against his chest before they both fell back to sleep.

It wasn't until Jasper barged in later on in the morning that they both got up, startled from his cheery announcement, "All of the Christmas presents are wrapped and accounted…" He stared at them, shuffling out of bed. "Oh, dang. Did I interrupt something?"

"Yeah, our sleep," Charlotte complained.

"Hey, wait - are you guys back together?" He wondered, in excitement.

Charlotte gave him an annoyed look, while Henry laughed, "No. What do you mean _back_ together."

"He never put it together that it wasn't real," Charlotte said, collecting her things.

Jasper gasped and clutched at his own heart, "It WASN'T? ALL of this time?" Henry wrinkled his face and sighed. Jasper was legit having a crisis. "Were Charlotte's mouth sores real?"

"Absolutely," Henry said.

"NOT!" Charlotte finished the statement and threw a glare at him. "Jasper, I don't know how this many years passed without this conversation, but that was just something we said to see if you could keep a secret, and you made us look bad in front of Ray." Jasper threw both of his hands in the air and fumbled around to find a seat at Henry's computer desk. Charlotte was all packed up by then.

"Uh, am I getting those pajamas back, because you've got like four pairs, now, and I'm not a huge pajama shopper…" Henry started.

"See ya later, Guys," Charlotte said, without addressing his concern for yet another pair of his pajamas leaving on her person.

"I'm never getting my pajamas back," he noted to himself.

"Was it about the goldfish?" Jasper asked. He was still in crisis mode.

"It was about seeing if you could handle the Danger secret, which since then you've proved that you can… Even though you've exploited my powers a few times."

"You'd do the same to me," Jasper said.

"This is true."

But, now that Charlotte was gone and Jasper was over the shock of finally discovering that his two friends never dated at all, he did wonder, "So… There's nothing going on between you two, right now?"

Henry thought about her making eye contact with him before snuggling closer and letting him hold her this morning… But, he also thought about her thinking up the website idea and defending her relationship with Max… "Nope. Just friends, as always. Always will be." Jasper could tell that there was something else in Henry's voice, but he wasn't going to press it. He'd just woke him up and Henry didn't seem in the mood to say more, anyway.

…

After the holiday break, Charlotte dropped off all of Henry's pajamas in his room before she went back home to her apartment. She wanted to work more on her website, including a name of the thing. She still liked her tagline, though. She looked around her place and it suddenly felt small and lonely. She had spent so much time getting the place together, in between school, extracurricular, and working, and spending time with Max, she hadn't had much time to just be here by herself with her thoughts, without her friends and family. The visit home reminded her that when she stopped for a moment to enjoy life, it was always the same people surrounding her for the good times.

She rushed to her bathroom mirror and took a look at herself. "You are Charlotte Page. Intelligent. Beautiful. Talented. Powerful. You very well may be President someday, if the future doesn't change because of time tampering. Remember that. You will NOT move back to Swellview over a boy, especially not a boy who would ask you a question about your life, then cut you off because he really didn't care about your answers… Even if he seems to have changed, and has gotten super hot, somehow. Even if he's your best friend and snuggling with him gave you tingles. He's just a boy. You are Charlotte." Her phone rang and she took a deep breath and reached for it. It was Max.

"Hey! What's up?"

"Well, I knew that you planned on making it back today and wanted to see if you were back home yet. I got you a present and I'm done with my family things."

"I… Didn't get you a present…" She said, feeling awful. She didn't know if they were the kind of… whatever they were… to give presents.

"I wasn't expecting one. You're a first year college student without a job," he chuckled.

"I have a job!"

"The one that you've done since you were a kid?"

"It's very important work," she defended.

"Of course it is. But… Are you home?"

She thought about lying. She didn't like the way that he seemed to insinuate that her Captain Man work wasn't important and she honestly wasn't looking forward to seeing him, because of that. "I'm home, but I don't want to be bothered right now." There was a long pause. "Max, are you there?"

"Yeah. Hey… did I do something wrong?"

"It's important work. Maybe some of us didn't grow up super with access to the supers world and just because we didn't, you don't get to be a superpower elitist about the work that's done in Swellview. Plenty of superheros work in a small area."

"I know. I didn't mean. Hey… Is that it? You seem tense. Did something happen on your trip?" She sighed. "Is it Henry?"

"What does that mean?"

"It means that every time we have a little issue, Henry's somewhere in it."

"I just want some time to myself!" She fussed. Honestly, she didn't want to be alone, but she didn't want to be with him right now, either. "Maybe, we need some space. We haven't been seeing as much of each other as before, anyway and…"

"And now that you don't need my lab for your internship, you don't have to hang out with me."

"Wow, that was unfair," she had tears in her eyes. Charlotte was the most loyal and dedicated person that she knew. Granted, she wasn't perfect, but she was hardly a user.

"You're right. It was unfair. I'm just lashing out. Sorry. You didn't deserve that. You can't help who you love." Now, he sighed. "I'll see you around?"

"Hey… Why don't you come over? I mean, I don't feel like hanging out, but I don't want to be alone, and I'm really confused about my feelings and just… I don't know. I don't like the sharp turn this conversation took." She felt a tear fall and she wiped it away, angry at herself for letting it loose.

"Actually, that sounds like a bad idea. Let's just take that space for the night and if you don't hate me in the morning, we'll link up then?"

"Yeah," she answered, sadly. He hung up without saying anything else and she let some of her tears go before straightening herself out and calling Henry.

"Dang, Girl. Miss me already?" he answered jokingly.

"I… think Max and I just broke up…" She said, even though they weren't technically 'together' and they hadn't actually made themselves clear on what was happening.

"I'm sorry, Char. What do you need?"

"Do you have time to listen to me whine?"

"I'll make some," he said, leaving Ray and the guys in the Man Cave so that he could step out of the room and have a little bit of privacy.


	5. That's De-Dateable

_Bit o' the old angst I love so_ _much. I'd love to hear from you guys anywhere that I'm falling short. I know a lot of this ain't canon, but I try to (for the HD cast), at least be accurate as to things that happened in the show and try hard to keep them behaving accurately, but it's hard to communicate the way that Henry and Ray play off of each other, in writing. Hoping that it's going well. Lol. I have no idea, but I'm loving writing this for y'all._

 **That's De-Dateable**

Charlotte and Henry talked all night, never revisiting what might or might not be between him. On the heels of her heartache with Max was not the right time. Henry was definitely into rebounds, but not necessarily being one, not with Charlotte, at least. Plus, when she returned his pajamas from Christmas, he felt like it maybe was a statement. She hadn't returned the ones from Thanksgiving, but that was just because she accidentally took them home and didn't remember to pack them when she came back for Christmas. Anyway, the next day, she and Max had coffee and he apologized for being jealous of Henry the previous night, and gave her a Christmas gift.

She opened it to see a figurine of her favorite storybook bookworm, but painted to look more like her. She told him about when she was younger, and she dressed like Hermoine for Halloween, and was as accurate as she could possibly make her costume, and another girl who was also dressed like her (but looked more like the movie version than the way Charlotte imagined her when she read) teased her about it and called her depiction "laughable."

For years, it was one of those things that she never forgot and that girl was one of those people who thought she was better than others. Charlotte posted the cast for the stage production on her wall, and was promptly blocked, but she felt sweet satisfaction. The character was AS she had imagined her, after all. Because characters could be read differently, if not specified something certain, and if so, they could be reimagined. "Do you like her?" Max wondered.

Well, that settled it. He _listened_ and he _cared._ Charlotte placed the figure on her desk, then GramChat it on her page and tagged Max in it with heart eyes. Henry heard the notification and checked her page.

 _When Bae was listening hard and surprises you with one of the best Christmas gifts ever!_ He sighed and silenced his phone. Whatever problems led to her break up scare were over and he guessed that they were up and running.

"Oh, he's BAE now?" he heard Ray yell from across the Man Cave. He came storming up, stomping his feet, "What about when she was crying about how cold he was being just because she got upset that he was a little jerkface jerk about this operation?"

"People be having problems," Henry said and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well… Charlotte's… Yours, though. I mean, come on. This thing with this guy won't last. You two will get together, she'll come back home, and we'll all live happily ever after."

"Remember that time when Future Ray told us that she was President?" Henry asked.

"I wasn't here, so stop bringing that up!"

"I just mean how would she come back here and be happy with us AND be president? It doesn't make sense, if you think about it."

"Life _makes sense_ to you? Must be nice," Ray said, as he typed ' _LAME'_ on Charlotte's post. She responded with a kiss blowing emoji. "I'll teach you to blow kisses at my insults," he muttered. ' _Your bae sux.'_ He chuckled. "Ha! Take that."

Maxy-T replied, "This is childish. Even for you."

"Childish, huh? I'll show you childish…" He thumbed through his phone and wondered, "Hey, there's an emoji that does this right?" *Blows raspberry with his tongue*

"Why would you want to use something so horrible?" Henry wondered.

"Charlotte's stupid boyfriend called me childish."

"What?"

"Right?"

"How dare he!"

"Honestly!" Henry chuckled to himself, and continued to look at the screens at the control panel. "What are you doing over there, anyway?"

"Ugh. Reviewing the current content of Charlotte's website design to see if she left out anything that a superhero or sidekick might want to include in the terms and conditions of a dating website for people with superpowers and others in the super community. By the way, you're gonna have to make a profile. You'll most likely need to be the face of the company to help get it up and running."

"The what of the what, now?" Ray asked, putting his phone away.

"Oh. Right - Charlotte's making a dating website for supers and such. You gotta be a part of it."

"I know that you must have volunteered your services to compete with the boyfriend, but how did _I_ get roped into this?" Ray wondered.

"If I dive into something, you comin' with me, ain't no choice!" Henry practically yelled. Then, calmly said, "She could really use your help and this might be big. She might be able to do something really great. It's important to her. She'd totally do it for you, if the shoe was on the other foot."

"Ugh, what do I have to do?"

"Just create a profile as Captain Man… And maybe do some ads for her. I'm not all the way positive. I can't even understand what I'm reading, but I can't give Max the satisfaction of being the person who helped Charlotte do this. He already helped her get that internship by lending her his lab. Who the butt has a _lab?"_

"Every superhero should," Ray said.

…

It was going to take Charlotte a few weeks to get the website up. She was making moves, like all of the time. Henry noticed that she changed her status to "In a relationship" and every single time he talked to her, Max was either on the way, had just left, or there, with her. She wanted to launch by Valentines' Day - an unrealistic goal, but she was Charlotte and she had Max in her corner and Schwoz on call. Henry just watched her be great from afar, sort of. He had gotten super interested in the Kid Danger challenge… Which wasn't really a challenge so much as it was kids all over Swellview posting their auditions to be the next Kid Danger. Two of them he _knew_ were Sidney and Oliver… They were his age. What made them think that Kid Danger would be replaced by two grown men?

Piper had began the "Let Ladies be the Danger" movement, and stepped down from president of the Man Fans until Captain Man agreed to have a sit down with her about this subject. He was committed to doing the exact opposite, "Now, if your mother wanted to talk…" Henry just threw him a look.

…

"Okay, so I have Souldates up but under construction," Charlotte told Max. "It is awful."

"Let me take a look," he said, and she got up out of the seat, let him sit, then sat on his lap. "Can people connect from behind a mask? They can, if they connect at the soul. Find your super soulmate today." He shrugged, "The layout is good, but you are no romantic, are you?"

"It's not one of my talents."

"This just needs a little finesse of wordplay. I love what you've done with this design. Is that like… what's that spider who wrote the stuff for the pig?"

"Are… you kidding?" She asked and looked at him.

"No, it was a cartoon, then a movie. I think based on a book?"

"Charlotte."

"Why are you saying your name?"

She was frustrated, "The spider's name was Charlotte. That was the reason that I… Nobody sees me. They don't see my face, and I'm only listed at the Pagemaster. I literally put my name into the design because, I thought it was clever. Now, I just feel silly."

"Charlotte's Web! Oh, God. The Pagemaster. You're so darned cute." He was typing and then said, "Voila!"

"We pass strangers everyday, never making a connection. Some of us remain in the shadows, unable to show ourselves to the world. But, don't we all deserve to have someone? To at least get to know someone? Souldates specializes in connecting people who can't currently take off their masks, but still want to show someone their hearts."

"That's so much better."

"I think you should keep yours, but maybe…" He fiddled around and put her previous text: _Can people connect from behind a mask? They can, if they connect at the soul. Find your super soulmate today_ in the animated spider's web. "Boom!" He said and she smiled so brightly.

"I gotta tell Henry!" Max simply frowned as she alerted Henry on her Whiz Watch.

"Char, what's up?"

"Guess what Max and I did?"

"Oh God, did you guys take a trip to the Baby Store?"

"What is…?" Max furrowed his eyebrows and Charlotte didn't even finish the question, "You know what, no. Whatever you're talking about. We finished the website. I have yours and Ray's profiles up, and I've gotten several hits already on yours. One of them is Bianca!" He groaned. "Do… we no longer like Bianca or something?"

"That was a long time ago."

"Obviously, she's thinking about Kid Danger again, though."

"No, thank you."

"Then… you probably won't want to know that one of them is Chloe?"

"Ugh. This couldn't possibly get any worse."

"It could… One of them… Is Piper…" He disconnected the transmission.

"Piper's that bad, huh?" Max asked.

"Worst. She's his sister." Max shuddered. "Worst… She's unknowingly had a crush on him all of this time!" Now he cackled. "Whoa…"

"What?"

"Captain Man… He has already made contact with like… Every woman that has shown interest!" She shook her head. "I think I want to celebrate. I have a good feeling about this website."

...

As planned, Charlotte achieved her goal of a V-Day launch. Max threw her a launch party that her fellas had to come to. Piper came too, because she missed Charlotte and she was excited about this party, too. In the van, she stressed, "Charlotte's boyfriend is SO HOT, like beyond Kid Danger hot!"

Normally, Henry would shudder at the mentions of him being hot from her mouth, but the thought of his competition being _hotter_ was even more disturbing. "He's okay."

"YOU'RE okay. He's not okay… I mean… He's HOT. I bet he and Charlotte kiss ALL OF THE TIME!"

"Is everything she says this loud?" Schwoz wondered.

"Yes," Henry, Jasper, and Ray all answered.

Piper looked around the van, just formally realizing that there was no Charlotte there as padding, "THIS IS NOT OKAY!"

Charlotte wore a red top with her shoulders showing and black and white striped pants with a red hourglass on the back pocket. Henry had never been to Metroburg before, but Max was insistent that this was where Charlotte wanted to have her launch party, because of the open hero lifestyle. Piper rushed to Charlotte to hug her and compliment her on her rocking outfit and super hot boyfriend. Max simply smiled, "You're a charming little delight."

Piper fanned herself, "Like, he's WAY hotter than Kid Danger," she repeated, this time for Charlotte's benefit.

"I agree," Max said and winked at Charlotte. He had pulled a lot of strings for her to be able to have things rolling by this date, but he stayed out of her way for most of the production, unless she specifically asked him for something. He didn't want her to feel like he was taking over or like he was expecting something out of her.

"You love her, don't you?" Phoebe asked him. He frowned at that. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. She's good for you. I like her."

"I like her too, but I don't think she likes me as much as I like her."

"But, she's met the best version of you."

"She's… Got a friend." They looked at Charlotte, standing in the center of Team Man and and her parents, chatting away. "I don't know what it is about Henry, but it's like… She compares everyone to him. Friends, associates."

"They worked side by side for a long time, grew up together, at times were inseparable and even though they probably drove each other crazy, were always there for each other. I can relate."

"Yeah, me too… But they aren't twins. They aren't blood."

"They're like family, Max. Charlotte is a good, decent girl. She wouldn't lead you on."

"Not on purpose…"

Phoebe excused herself and went to find Charlotte. "Hi, can I steal her, for only a moment?"

"Of course. You can do what you want," Henry said, dreamily. When she left, looking confused and disinterested, he commented, "She's still hot."

…

Phoebe was concerned, and felt like she should tell Charlotte, "When Max first turned his life around, I didn't really trust that he had changed. It took me some time to see it, but I've always cared more about him than anybody else in this world. I think you can relate. You have a very close best friend in Henry, right?"

"Definitely."

"And, if a woman dated Henry and she was unsure about him, you would want her to be honest, with herself and with him."

Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows at this and was about to ask what Phoebe was insinuating when they heard a loud explosion. Charlotte screamed and covered her chest. "Is this normal for Metroburg?"

"I think the place is under attack…" Phoebe said and sure enough, passing the borders set up around the private party was a group of villains. "Take Henry's sister and take cover. I've gotta find Max…" They came back in from the balcony and there were heroes and villains alike, arguing and getting rowdy. Charlotte went towards Piper, who looked confused, but ready for whatever.

It all happened so quickly, Charlotte hardly had the time to process the thoughts. She said Piper's name and went towards her, heard someone say, "I said nobody move!" Heard a loud sound, followed by her name, turned and saw Phoebe heading in her direction, then felt something very hot, before she practically got whiplash when Henry swooped her out of the way of the attack. Only then was she able to assess the situation. Someone had fired upon her and Phoebe with a superpower. Max and Henry rushed in their direction. Max jumped in front of Phoebe, to shield her, while Henry pulled Charlotte out of the way. "Oh my God, Max!" Charlotte screamed.

Phoebe was checking on him, "He'll be alright," she said. Heroes took down the intruding villains and as they began to take them away, one of them taunted, "Powerless little girl thinks she can orchestrate movements in the power world…"

Ray punched him in the face and told him, "She. Can."

If the villains were trying to ruin the launch of the website, they failed. In fact, they _helped_ it. Several heroes wanted to join the community and either vent about what they had been a part of at the party or ask about the party that they missed. Charlotte went with Phoebe to try to help Max get settled, but he seemed just fine. "Max… This wasn't…?" He fought off a smile. "This was one of your pranks?"

"Call it a performance, to promote the page."

Charlotte fussed, "I'll promote _your_ page! What is wrong with you? That was one of the most terrifying things that I've ever gone through. You couldn't tell me in advance? I had to think that I was gonna die? That _you_ might?"

"It had the desired effect," he told her, unsure of why she was upset to realize that everyone was fine, but she turned and stormed away. "Why is she mad? I did her a favor."

"Max…it was too much," Phoebe said and patted him on the shoulder.

…

Charlotte wasn't going to mope over a guy, but she wasn't going to tolerate… whatever that was. Perhaps she was being unfair, but that was scary and dangerous. Henry _always_ let her know when there was something planned. He never shocked her that way. And Henry had just openly used his hyper-motility in front of people, in front of Piper, who was too filled with adrenaline to really have noticed how unreal that rescue was for a normal person.

Charlotte left her own party, with her friends. "We gotta stop at Happy Fun Burger," Ray said. She laid on Henry's shoulder and he put an arm around her.

"You were watching Good Burger," Charlotte said.

"Who was watching Good Burger?" Ray wondered, "Me? Because that definitely sounds like me."

"Ray, Charlotte almost died, and my sister almost _witnessed_ it. Maybe we can… I don't know, be quiet?" Henry told him.

Ray nodded, but a few moments later, they heard him saying in a low voice, "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your order?"

"You were watching Good Burger and I said, _I think I have a crush on somebody,_ and you said…"

"I said sucks for him," Henry remembered.

Charlotte laughed, "Then a few weeks later, had the nerve to ask me why I said Ewww."

"I mean, kids are pretty stupid."

"I wasn't," she said.

Ray made a high pitched 'meh' sound. "You've had your moments."

She sat up and said very sternly, "Ray, if you've ever witnessed a stupid moment from me, I don't even know the reference, but I can still assure you, you were being conned." Ray looked like that idea never occurred to him before.

"What's happening?" Piper wondered.

Charlotte said, "A long time ago, I thought I liked your brother…"

"Gross!"

"And he insulted me and changed my mind." Charlotte chuckled, "A short while ago, I thought I was in love. And he tricked me and I feel like I've changed my mind, but… Can we pull over?"

"No, we can't pull over. Wait, are you gonna hurl?" Ray wondered.

"Yeah. Totally," Charlotte lied. Ray pulled over and she said, "A teenage girl with a silly crush can change her mind quickly. I'm a grown woman."

Ray wondered, "Are you getting out to hurl, because doing it in the van is gonna make for a long, terrible drive…" She got out of the van. "Wait, she's not hurling, she's walking. Where is she going?"

"Back to Max. She just realized she made a mistake," Henry said.

"She's making the mistake right now!" Piper squealed. Henry looked confused. "Don't think for one moment that I'm speaking up for you, BUT - I saw everything. That Max guy left her hanging to go for his sister! You saved Charlotte! Your sister was standing right there, too. I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED, THANKS FOR ASKING! But, you barely noticed, because Charlotte was in trouble…" Ray popped the quickest U-Turn that he ever made in his life and went to find Charlotte.

"Charlotte! Come here!"

"I'll be fine, Ray."

"No, you gotta hear what Henry's loud sister had to say about what she witnessed!" She sighed and came back to the van and a shaken Piper repeated herself, though she was concerned that Ray's driving might be worst than hers.

"It doesn't matter. There was no real danger and he knew it. It was one of his pranks.. Excuse me, promotion performance, for the website."

Piper asked, "Wait, he didn't believe it would succeed on it's own?" Charlotte thought for a moment. "I mean, by all means, he's hot and also, probably better in every other way than my brother, but at least Henry thought the best of this thing the whole time. Come get a burger with us. I CAN'T be stuck with just these guys again!" Charlotte nodded her head and got back in, but didn't sit by Henry. She had so much to think about. They heard Piper say, "I should resume my life coach services."


	6. Getting Away

**Getting Away**

Piper watched in awe as the guys put down multiple burgers at Happy Fun Burger, and playfully elbowed Charlotte, "How'd you manage to stay sane in a room full of this at work everyday for five years?"

"Oh, you know… Ingenuity, and earbuds," Charlotte tried to joke around. She was obsessed with checking the Souldates app every few minutes, in between apology and begging texts from Max. She ignored him up until the point of: _Your visit luggage is in my hotel room._ "Oh, shoot!" She debated on whether she should make him bring it to Happy Fun Burger to drop it off, but knew that Max wasn't above following her to where she was gonna be sleeping tonight. She could have him bring it to the hotel and have to face her while all of her friends were there giving him the stink eye. He didn't particularly care what people thought about him, though. _Can you bring it to the hotel that my guests are at?_ He started a phone call, instead of answering her text and she got up from the table and went to take the call.

"Does anybody care that Charlotte is most likely gonna get back with a guy who is sort of turning out to be kind of a creep?" Piper wondered.

"They haven't broken up, so, I'm counting on a make up, personally," Jasper said. "Charlotte's got a lot of patience in her for certain people."

"Not us," Ray said and Henry and Jasper laughed about it. "No, definitely." "Absolutely not."

Henry reminded his sister, "What happened to he's so hot and they kiss all of the time?"

"I saw Charlotte cry tonight. I didn't even know that was something that Charlotte could do!" Piper yelled.

"Clearly, you've never seen Charlotte mess up a science project," Jasper said.

"Charlotte's never messed up a science project," Henry quickly interjected, but added, to Piper, "But, her work is an area that she might shed tears about. I don't think her crying was over the guy. I think it was over what he did to her work."

"She's married to her work," Jasper said.

"Well," Henry tilted his head, then nodded, "Yeah, she's definitely Mrs. Charlotte Work…" She came back to the table and sat back down, and finished eating, not saying much.

...

The group rented two suites - one for Ray and Schwoz, and the other for Jasper and Henry, but since Piper had tagged along for the trip and Charlotte had left the event with them, Ray let the kids have both of those (begrudgingly) and he and Schwoz rented another.

Charlotte was in Jasper and Henry's suite and all three were having themselves a spa night while Piper used her dad's card for her own space, because she had enough of all of these guys. Jasper noticed Charlotte texting a lot and figured that she and Max were still hashing things out. Henry chose to try to ignore it and move on. "Yo… So, is it too soon for me to ask about Phoebe?"

"She's not interested, Henry," Charlotte said, rolling her eyes. Jasper was applying a gel skin mask onto Henry's face. Charlotte already had a clay mask on hers and was "relaxing" in the hot tub, in her undies, because her things were still with Max. Somebody knocked and she quickly got out, Henry looked in the opposite direction to avoid seeing her body exposed, Jasper absentmindedly turned his head to do the opposite. "Dude!" Henry scolded.

"We're like family, Henry. Grow up," Jasper said, returning to the mask while Henry now couldn't help but to sneak a peek himself.

She grabbed a bathrobe, slipped into complimentary slippers and went to the door to open it for Max.

Henry couldn't see him, but heard his snivelling voice. "Hey, I brought your stuff… Can we _please_ talk to each other? I want to make this right."

"You can't undo past actions, Max." She was trying to keep her voice quiet so that her boys couldn't hear.

"I know that I can't, but am I not allowed to make a mistake, sometimes? Is this really about what I did earlier, or is it, like all of our problems, actually about your feelings for Henry?" She jumped with a start, grabbed his arm, glanced towards her two friends, and shoved Max outside of the door to talk to him in the hallway.

Henry and Jasper glanced at each other, then made a run for it, to eavesdrop. "We shouldn't," Jasper gave the compulsory warning, but they did, anyway.

Charlotte complained in a low voice, "I've already told you that Henry and I are friends. We've been friends a long time."

"Right, but you still wear his pajamas that you stole on Thanksgiving, even though they don't fit you."

"They're comfortable! I gave him back four pairs that I intended to score on Christmas to avoid having to keep coming back to the pajama argument with you, and here we are again."

Max was frustrated, even though he knew that this was petty, he strongly felt it was significant, "It's an example, not an argument. Some of the stuff that you've complained to me about Henry, I wouldn't even dream of doing to you and he gets to keep you as a best friend, but I do one thing wrong and you don't even want to see my face, now?"

Charlotte now raised her voice, "I believed in this, you jerk! You _altered_ my launch. You spent months supporting me and making me feel secure and confident in my work and this relationship, only to hijack the controls when it became official and set forth a motion that we can't undo. Whatever complaints that I've had about Henry, he's never in all of the years that I have known him, plotted behind my back, on my behalf or otherwise without telling me, (well, except for the time he got Bish arrested)... But, he's NEVER purposefully interfered in my work or the success of it. He'd never have the mind to do that to me. He might hate listening to me speak about my extracurricular plans and science ideas but, I'm snappy at him at times, too. We reciprocate annoyance and we reciprocate friendship. This was something else. I was giving you my full trust, as my _man_. You told me I could fly, then you clipped my wings, and pulled me onto your back to fly for me. I just _can't_ forgive this, Max. And, Henry had nothing to do with it. This time, our problem is all on you."

Max stared at the ground and took a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry. I'll never forgive myself for it. I _thought_ if we threw in some villains, gave supers a reason to check it out, they'd come for the initial curiosity and stay for everything that you've made available to them. It was really more like a massive text, but I should have spoken to you about it. I thought that if I made a big move, I could finally actually win you over, from him."

"Oooh, he's in trouble now," Henry whispered to himself, shaking his head and smiling.

"Win me over?" Charlotte repeated. "Max, _if_ Henry _had_ me - that would be my _choice_. Series of decisions and actions from myself would be necessary for that possibility. I'm not a trophy that someone brought out to present because of your performance at an event!"

Max dropped to his knees and lowered his head, "You want me to beg? I'll do anything. I'll say anything. Whatever I need to do to make it right, Charls." Henry scoffed at that nickname. Other guests walked by and saw a damp woman in a bathrobe, wearing a clay face mask and a satin scarf wrapped around her head and a guy in front of her, on his knees.

"Let's go talk inside," she told him. Henry and Jasper rushed from the door. Henry picked up a menu that he reviewed while standing in the middle of the room, and Jasper fell into the hottub, fully dressed. Charlotte paused, stared at them, knowing that they had been eavesdropping, but didn't respond. "My room's this way," she told Max. He telekinetically lifted her bags and followed her, without saying a word.

Jasper got out of the hottub, casually waved at them, and put his hands on his hips. "She's gonna forgive him."

"She loves him," Henry said and shrugged his shoulders. Char deserved to be able to explore her feelings and she hadn't had chances when they were younger. He just had to accept that as her friend, he'd see her relationships, good or bad, and had to dedicate himself to being there for her when they didn't work out, as he was sure that eventually this wouldn't.

...

The next morning, Charlotte walked Max out, trying to part ways before anybody else woke up, but Jasper was already up, setting up the table for breakfast and he'd woken Henry up, too. "Morning, Lovebirds," Henry said, yawning.

Max rolled his eyes and headed out. "Later, Max!" Jasper cheered. Max forced a single hand wave. He paused at the door, stared at Charlotte, reached out to touch her chin, to which she awkwardly smiled and casually leaned away, shut the door behind him and joined her friends at the table.

"The makeup sleepover sounded lively."

"Shut up, Hen."

Jasper had roses on the table as he served heart shaped pancakes, "Happy Valentines Day."

"Can you believe all of that happened in one day?" Charlotte asked out loud. They started breakfast and talked. "So, Max and I will proceed with our plans for this weekend, as usual. Everything's already paid for, but we're going to be rethinking some things, I'm sure."

"Rethinking last night's makeup encounter?" Jasper genuinely asked, "Or the breakup fodder from the launch?"

"We didn't makeup. We decided not to continue dating, but to try to remain friends."

"No wonder he was in such a crappy mood. You let him stay over, grown up sleepover, and still broke up with him!" Henry laughed, "Savage."

Charlotte waved her hands in front of her and shook her head, "No, no, no. It was mutual. Everything was mutual."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself. He was shattered when he left here." Henry knew what a shattered dude looked like.

"He was just tired. We talked all night."

Henry smirked, "Talked? _That's_ what we're calling it now?"

"Look, a lot of talking happened, in between the other stuff, okay? Maybe we had some grownup moments of weakness throughout the course of the talking. Ultimately, we realized that if we let ourselves, we could keep doing this likely unhealthy dance for a long time, and decided that last night would be the last night for such weakness, and that we'd still be friends, if possible, and science bros, whenever needed."

"That's very mature of you, Charlotte," Jasper said and passed around the strawberries.

"How did the two of you even meet?" Henry finally wondered.

Charlotte didn't mind telling this story, "My first weekend in my new town, I wanted to explore the science community in the area, before school started, so that I could make my rounds and show my face before the first week of class stress settled in. I went to a few places, saw some exhibits and went to a few lectures. I saw him and I recognized him right away, at this inventions convention, and I tried to dodge him, but he wound up sitting by me for a panel, and the place was way too full for me to try to find another seat…"

 _Max stared at her for a moment while she casually, conspicuously tried to hide in her stars and moons hoodie. He waved a hand and telekinetically removed the hoodie from her head. "I thought that was you."_

" _We… have never met," she lied, poorly._

" _I forget faces. I forget names. But, I don't forget scandals. I met you when my sister worked on some errand with Captain Man, and I recognized you then, because you made a teleportation machine that was ultimately destroyed by Captain Man, but… You were_ working with _Captain Man…"_

 _She sighed, "I made a much less significant gizmo and the team thought they'd help me by bringing something else. They didn't realize how popular that teleportatiob machine might be."_

" _Are they complete idiots?"_

" _Yes. All of them. Even the genius," she laughed. "Look… I'm just here to check out the science scene before my classes start at the science institution next week. So, I won't start any trouble, if you don't."_

" _Why would I start trouble?"_

" _Maybe you forgot the scandal of the last time I saw you?"_

" _Oh! That. Yeah, I'm good, now." He shrugged his shoulders. "It's been a while, actually. Nothing to worry about from me, except for maybe me trying to buy you dinner."_

" _I love dinner. Why would that be a worry? You know a place and I expect you to pay for it, since you invited me."_

" _Yeah, You'd really let me take you? With like, no proof that I've changed?" Max wasn't used to that. He had to prove himself to everyone, even his own twin._

" _Well, I've never seen you in the news, so you can't be a dangerous maniac. If you haven't changed, I don't see how me turning down a free dinner would benefit anybody." Now, he laughed._

" _You're funny. Obviously smart, if you're here and going to the institute and super cute. You're either not single and don't realize that I was asking you on date, or you're inexplicably single and I can't help but be curious about why."_

 _Charlotte looked shocked. She_ hadn't _thought that she was being asked on a date, but now that she knew, she felt pretty exposed. She hadn't even tried to be cute today. "Oh! Um, very single, didn't catch on that dinner equaled to date, and I don't know if I can. I mean I can- because my parents will allow it now that I've graduated, but I kinda like the thought of being friends and knowing people before I ever took the drastic date step."_

" _That's fair. Dinner as friends, then?"_

" _Potential friends, but still your treat."_

" _A woman who knows what she wants."  
_ " _Most women know what they want. Some are just conditioned to answer the world a certain way…"_

"He bought me dinner after the convention, he took me for coffee the next day, treated me to milkshakes the weekend after my classes started. He started bringing me takeout whenever I was getting bogged down with my work and forgot that I'm no longer working right next to an auto snacker. Then, when I wanted to go out for the internship, I needed a lab to work on my entry project and from there, we really started getting close…" She stared out into space.

"Wow, Char. You blew it. That dude sounds gooood," Henry teased.

"He _is_ good. Too good to wait around in a relationship with me that I'm not all in. I told you, I've got goals, plans, and a lot of accomplishments before I have a window of time to do… more serious relationship stuff."

Jasper wondered, "So, are you two going to be friends who…" he cleared his throat, " _talk?"_ Charlotte didn't dignify that question with a response, and Henry laughed out loud But, mentally… Charlotte knew probably. Probably until one of them moved on or they had a bigger falling out. As long as she kept her focus on her goals and didn't use him in the meantime. (And, being truthful, she _wasn't_ going to forgive him for that launch stunt, no matter how many free meals she got). She just hoped that she wouldn't forget this backbone when they spent the rest of the weekend together.

…

"How does a community full of superheros and friendlies get so toxic?" She wondered, having to remove certain reported posts and content flagged from the site. For a change, Henry was at her place. He had come early to snatch her up for their first spring break out of high school and he was going to be taking a vacation, finally from the Danger.

"Superheroes aren't what you see in TV shows and movies, Charlotte. Those guys are real jerks," Henry said. He shrugged his shoulders, "You never told me what you and _bae_ did for Valentines' Day after we left Metroburg. I mean, I know that you don't care about the day, but you did have a huge release and you did unofficially take him back after his massive mess up."

"What'd we do for what?" she asked, hardly paying attention to the question, as she was focused on removing SO MANY photos of superdudes' junk. Didn't know who wore the masks, but here she was seeing _those things._

"Valentines' Day. When people do the whole candy and cards bit? Romance? Love? You and Max went ahead and spent your time together and you never muttered a word about it."

She looked like it just dawned on her what he was talking about, "I worked on the website I'd just launched and I think he cooked. He did flowers and steaks and had music playing and commented that everyone told him he needed to do something like that. He never actually said, "I was too caught up in my work to pay it attention. I had to try to fix some of the stuff his little plot affected, even made an announcement that it was a publicity stunt that the site creator wasn't aware of, in case it comes back to bite me. Anyway, we weren't back together. We just finished out the weekend as planned. We left our statuses unchanged for political purposes. I didn't want people to put together that he was the publicity stunt person. It could hurt his hero rep, and he's worked hard to shake off that villain stuff. Plus, I feel like breaking up in front of everyone right after launching a dating site could have been catastrophic for business."

"Your relationship is a business ploy? How… Has this dude not dumped you yet?"

"Do you _really_ want to know the answer?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Does it have to do with your grownup sleepovers?"

"You know it does."

"No, thank you. I heard how that goes from across the suite. Nuff said." He couldn't help but be curious, though. Her love interest was a recovered villain, born superpowered, official superhero, who was smart enough to be an evil genius, but apparently down enough to cook for her and try to romance her… _Oh, God. Charlotte has been speaking and now, she's looking at you because you are supposed to be responding to something..._

"You didn't hear a thing I said, did ya?"

"Well… You didn't realize that dude was trying to seduce you for the special day. Probably trying to undo your alleged mutual break up."

"I was definitely seduced…"

"Let's NOT!" Henry shoved his fingers into his ears. "Just, repeat whatever I missed when I zoned out!"

"I was saying that I might have to pull the plug on the site. It's doing very little actual love connections."

"That's because supers don't want love. You know what they want? To have someplace to be after a hard fight. Some soft arms around them, but not so much conversation and… Basically… They want…"

She held out her hands for him to release whatever he was trying to say and took a shot at guessing, "Booty calls?"

"So crass."

"Superhero booty calls? That's what my site is for?"

"To be fair, most social media has a high volume of digital get down." She let out a frustrated grunt at that news. That was not what this was for. This was for Hen to find love, for people like Hen to find connections. Not superpowered body parts and arrangements to put them places.

"Is that what you do with your space?" Charlotte wondered.

He blushed and scoffed, "I mean… It's more ethical than hooking up with damsels who were just rescued, like so many of us used to do!" She closed her laptop and got ready to go. "So, what's your feaux beau science bro doing for his Spring Break?"

"Well,"- she went behind her clothesline curtain to change, "He's on a mission, currently, so he's probably gonna be working for the whole thing. But, I mean - he's old enough to drink, so his Spring Breaks are probably you know - party truth."

"Does he drink? Gross habit."

"No, but he's one of those snooty people that will watch everyone else drink and judge their lives in a comical manner," she came from behind the curtain in a peach colored bikini, with a sheer cream cover up blouse over it, and a short pair of floral shorts. She went into her beauty wardrobe for cocoa butter and Henry forgot what they were even talking about upon seeing her. "Should we take any selfies before we go, or you think that Jasper will feel bad?" She asked while, rubbing her legs down to moisturize and protect.

"I think he might, but I also think we gotta. Look at how good we look." She looked him over. She knew how good she looked. She looked good on purpose. But, Henry was just waking up looking fine, these days. He did have to do his hair, but he took good care of himself and his hair wasn't a ton of work to maintain, so within a few minutes, he could be a total babe.

"We do," she said, taking out her phone. After several very close selfies that she tagged him and hashtagged them as besties, despite the fact that his skin touching hers was doing something to her lately.

"Hey, Char - will you put the sunscreen on my back for me? I might need you to commit to it all week." He smiled, anxiously, hoping she wouldn't shoot him down and be offended that he asked.

"Most definitely. Gotta protect that glorious skin…" She felt her face grow hot. Henry did too. He blushed and nodded his head, grabbing her bags for her. "Oh, thanks."

"We take care of each other," he said, with a shrug. _When did his shoulders get this broad?_ She sighed. This was about to be a long week.


	7. Give Your Heart a Break

_Thanks for all of the positive feedback, y'all. Unfortunately, the typos will still be probable. I try to proof read, but the way that my schedule is set up, I don't get to dedicate as much time and attention to that part. This particular chapter kept changing on me, but I think I finally got it settled. Initially, I only intended for the pre-Chenry to be a few chapters. This particular Charlotte and Henry are making me wait a little bit longer before they let this be great. Hopefully, you'll enjoy the read._

 **Give Your Heart a Break**

Henry spent almost a year now getting used to this whole Charlotte-free environment/influence. He finally fully understood that line about absence making the heart grow fonder. He'd watched her do some pretty amazing things her first year of college, and she was almost done with it. She was going to be moving on to new things, or adding on to the things that she had already done. She spent most of her Man Cave money on finally getting her own actual lab set up, which would make it easier for her to work. She used connections that she met through Souldates to find donation inventions like things that weren't necessarily dangerous that had been obtained from captured villains' lairs by heroes she helped on her site. The dating aspect wasn't happening, but networking was so great that she had already began working on a second site (without Max's aid - FaceMask) and many promised that they would come to that one as well.

She had been tinkering with her Whiz Watch in her downtime, for fun - just to see if she could make it do other things. Schwoz was always excited to hear about her experiments with his work.

She received several academic awards and made several lists, in only the beginning of her higher educational career… and he and Jasper were working at Junk N Stuff. He was a sidekick, too… But… _a sidekick,_ with no backup plan. Jasper at least was going to school in Swellview, for a totally pointless major that Henry could never remember.

Charlotte had a list of plans. If any of the half dozen goals she was simultaneously working on fell through, she would likely have a dozen more to move forward with, next. He didn't have _one_. What did he even dream of being when he was younger? _Why does she have my hand?_

Charlotte took Henry's hand and began to brush his fingernails with her extra nail brush while he was driving. "Excuse me…"

"Your fingernails are filthy. I tried to ignore it, but you're tapping your hand to the music and it was impossible."

"I am driving, Woman!"

"You weren't using this hand to do it, anyway!" She brushed his nails, then rubbed one of her oils on them. "Switch," she said, firmly, and he reflexively followed the command, reached over to give her the other hand, and drove with the clean one. "Why are your fingernails dirty, anyway? I remember you being pretty committed to upkeep."

"I had to do some chores before I left home, and I had to rush out, get on the plane and come over. I was gonna wash up before we went out tonight."

"So, you're overall dirty and not just fingernails?"

"I would have gotten cleaned up at your apartment, but the last time I showered at your place, you acted like the plague was in your bathroom.."

"You left behind a _lot_ of dirt in my shower. I was just trying to be sure that it didn't settle into a ring. I use several oils in there. Dirt has to be dealt with immediately." She rubbed oil on the second hand, "All done." He switched his hands back to driving and casually reached over and took one of her hands with his, nearest her.

She squeezed his hand once, then let go to play around on her phone. "Omigosh! Uno Dos Cakes has signed a contract and they're gonna start making lip balms!"  
"Will Diez Leches be a flavor?"

"It. Will!" They both began to do a celebratory dance in the rental car.

…

Henry showered when they reached the beach house that they rented Airbnb, while Charlotte selected the room she preferred and began to settle her things. "Hey, Char! You got a back washer?" She heard him call out from the bathroom and she went into her tote bag and opened the side zipper with her _Henry's Extras_ sign attached to it. She went into the bathroom and put the back washer over the door of the shower. "Thanks! Lifesaver." She usually carried along spare things that she knew that Henry wouldn't remember until he needed them. She went into the bag again and left the extra floss on the sink. He'd have definitely forgotten to pack that, too.

After a while, Henry got out of the shower, grabbed his toothbrush, started brushing his teeth and called out, "Char?" She didn't come. He spit out the toothpaste, "Char!"

She appeared in the doorway and froze at the sight of him wrapped in a towel. "Wh- what, Hen?"

"Do you have any extra floss?" he wondered. She put her hand on her hip and gave him a look. He winced, "Did you already bring me some?" He glanced at the sink, picked it up and gratefully lifted it to her, "Thanks. And, sorry. Didn't mean to pull you in here…"

She looked him over and shrugged, "It was worth the trip." Her eyes widened. She hadn't meant to actually say that and now, Henry blushed and pulled his towel tighter around his waist. "Well, I'm leaving," she said and quickly did so. Meanwhile, Henry tried to control his pulse and finish getting ready. It was extremely difficult.

 _What did she mean by that? And… She definitely, probably was like… Checking me out. Her eyes did the whole once over. She glanced at the Henry jewels! Or, she was avoiding eye contact. Or, she_ accidentally _glanced towards the jewels and_ that _was what made her leave awkwardly…_

Once he was dressed, he came out to ask her if it was his imagination, or if she had glanced him over, and more importantly - _did_ she try to check out the jewels - but she was already engaged in a conversation with Jasper, who cheerfully yelled out, "SPRING BREAK!" When he saw Henry.

The only natural response was for Henry to yell, "SPRING BREAK!" Charlotte simply quietly sipped on her frozen drink. Henry sat right next to her, as close that he could, which seemed to make her uncomfortable, so he gave her a little more space, to which she relaxed a little, but only just. Jasper was going on and on about what kind of plans they had and what things he was excited about and how good it was to be with his two best buds for a week.

…

"Flow Phase Initiated," Charlotte said into the mirror. She had her afro in a puff at the top of her head, and was definitely going to hashtag herself _fineapple._ Flow Phase was afoot. She was going to just enjoy this week, like she didn't have a care or a responsibility in the world! She chuckled to herself at the thought. Yeah, right. She was going to _wisely and responsibly_ let it flow. That might not make sense to anyone else but her, but as long as she believed it, she knew that she could achieve it.

Her contraceptive implant was current. Her testing was clean. She had prophylactic companions in her clutch. She wanted to flow around, but it would be a safe flow.

Going from 0-100 so quickly with Max, then in a shorter span of time than she expected, back to 0 had been a lesson learned for her - being serious about guys took a lot of time and energy that she could be focused on bettering herself, or at the very least _enjoying_ herself.

Earlier, Henry casually told her that she always smells like a tropical sundae, and that it was sometimes hard not to try to bite her! She fumbled all over her words to say, "Well, that makes sense, because I use a banana yogurt shea butter hair parfait, almond oatmeal hydration cream, cocoa butter moisturizer, and usually a coconut and hibiscus oil mist refresher on my skin… pineapple mango lip gloss..." she nodded nervously, "So, you know, yeah. A tropical sundae worth of hair and skin products." He looked suspicious of her behavior. Like, he was wondering why she was acting so weird about this _joke_. "But, you can't bite people just because they smell good, Henry!" She snapped at him.

He laughed, "I know, that's why I _haven't_. I'm not an animal, Char. Jeesh."

Honestly, as she got ready for the club, she wondered how many guys and girls were gonna want to bite her. Charlotte had always been confident. She always felt pretty, knew she was likely to succeed, determined that she was smart, and believed her body was banging. Things that made her nervous were failures, frights, and sometimes fights. Nothing about her appearance or personality was ever internalized negativity, so her newfound feelings for Henry were weird, in that they made her doubt herself.

She didn't doubt herself in the _Oh no, I'm not good enough for Henry. Oh, he's so cute and I'm just this wallflower. He's been with plenty of girls and I've been with one guy…_ No. She shushed her thoughts even in pointing out that wasn't the case. But, she felt like with Henry - there couldn't be a real future.

They might have fun and it might be the time of her life, but it would only be that, and she was positive that they both thought these things - from start to finish. Hen wanted them to happen. She could tell. He probably felt the mutual vibe from her, as well. It wasn't very often that someone still suggested that they date, (like people used to, or ask if they were dating) and each time, both were still inclined to laugh it off, because that _was_ laughable.

Hen with his Chloes, Biancas, whatever that criminal girl's name wases. Hen with his eye candy. Hen with his girls who loved attention, the spotlight, appearances, romance… Her with her very high standards of meeting a handsome genius, preferably with money, because why not go big? One of the most attractive things about Max, in addition to the fact that she did think he was very handsome, wasn't even how smart or focused he was - it was his ambition. Whether he was conjuring up a prank, constructing a perfect date, or contriving a new invention, he would take a look at it and see if there was any area that he could make it better. She _loved_ that drive. She _adored_ that initiative. She envied him it, in several ways. She had her days when she shrugged her shoulders in response to his questions about her next steps, grabbed a snack, and laid on her circle couch. Then, he'd say that her "Henry was showing," and she'd be offended. She couldn't honestly say if it was that Max didn't know Henry (not even from all of her stories) well enough to make an attempt to insult him, if she was mad that he was right during those moments, or if she was mad that he was wrong and had the nerve, or if she was offended because she believed that Henry was too lax about life. _Who doesn't have ONE backup plan?_

And, that was why she knew that they could never be… whatever. They were too different. They had completely incompatible paths, and if she was going to involve herself on a serious level again, it wouldn't be any time soon and they had to impress her as much as or more than Max had. _Way to set the bar high on your first try, Charls._ She could hear Max say to her. But, she hadn't even been _trying_ to get him. He honestly just kind of fell into her lap and for a moment, it felt right to have him there. She was even actually getting over his ruse over her website, and their online status still felt like an accomplishment - not because she needed or wanted a man in her life, but specifically because she _didn't,_ yet there he still was. A good guy, a hero, an intellect, an inventor, and he was still super into her and waiting on her to make the next decision about them. It felt gratifying to have him on hold, even if she didn't ask for it and had told him many times to just move on, because the online thing was temporary. He'd made good points the night of the release, but she hadn't been open to hearing them, especially after she had spoken to Henry that night (between Max's stunt and his arrival at the hotel).

" _It was because you're so powerful," Henry had told her when they were alone that night._

" _What?"_

" _It was because you're so powerful that I said 'sucks for him,' when you told me about your crush. You're small, but you're a force, Char. I've seen you do some tremendous things with just an idea and some curiosity, but at that time, I wasn't advanced enough to wrap my head around you actually having feelings for someone. Directing those at some poor, I was presuming probably average guy, and then probably expecting him to be as good at anything as you were. I didn't mean like it was gonna suck for him because you liked him and there was something sucky about you. I meant… I knew he wasn't gonna measure up to whatever you had in mind. I didn't have to know who you were talking about, because I knew you, and I was right, after all. Your first boyfriend comes from a superhero family. He went to hero school! And, he's an inventor. You once had a crush on a sidekick who couldn't even tell a lie straight to keep his cover. You were selling yourself short and I'm kinda glad that I ruined it for myself. We might not have had this awesome friendship if we dated. I've never been a good boyfriend. We might have missed out on the years of genuine camaraderie that I feel. You being super hot and totally amazing now shouldn't harm that."_

She wanted to pounce on him _that_ night, but she knew that she was an emotional wreck and it would have been a terrible idea.

However, now a month had passed, she and Max were broken up, only "together" online, it was Spring Break, this top was glorifying her cleavage, and a hot young thing wanted to bite her. She wasn't going to push it, but if anything happened, she wasn't going to stop it… Knowing Hen, though - nothing was gonna happen, unless of course she chatted up some fine young gentleman and he became territorial, or if they played one of her jams and she showed off the fruits of her twerking lessons labor.

"Ugh, like how hot do you need to be before we leave?" Jasper complained outside of the bathroom.

"As hot as possible!" she replied.

"If you haven't gotten there, maybe just settle for however hot you are right now, in the moment, Charlotte." She heard Henry snicker at Jasper's advice. Whenever the door flew open Henry froze and Jasper barely even acknowledged how gorgeous she looked. Instead he said, "THANK YOU," and pushed past her to get inside of the bathroom.

She rolled her eyes at him as he passed and leaned against the wall, to check Hen out, again. "If he would have let me stay in there, woo boy - I'd have been steaming."

Henry's eyes had traced her several times and they still were, "You… You did good," he said, as calmly as he could manage. He cleared his throat, grabbed his phone and said, "Selfies?" She smiled and nodded. Henry wrapped himself around the back of her and she was still as he adjusted to get them both. Her heart was racing and he smelled amazing. He always smelled amazing, even before she _noticed_ noticed him. He took several shots of them and posted almost immediately.

Just as quickly, Piper commented, " CharlsDarkly Did you and my STUPID brother finally make it official?"

Henry rolled his eyes, "I ought to tell her that we did," he muttered. Charlotte laughed. "Dare me?"

"Why on Earth would I _dare_ you to do something that would affect _my_ life, too?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "For comedy, Charlotte!"

"This is a situation where we don't share the same sense of humor."

"Right. Political boyfriend will see our fake relationship as a cheat to his fake relationship."

"Our relationship isn't _fake,_ Henry. Our status has changed and we haven't been able to let everyone else know yet."

"That feels suspiciously like the relationship is still going though."

"I understand that mindset."

"Are you free to flow around this week?"

"I'm definitely interested in starting my flow phase!" She said.

Henry smiled, "I'm encouraging it fully."

"Okay. And?"

"And, you'd better be ready for the flow life."

"The flow life better be ready for me." She batted her eyes, pursed her lips and walked off.

Henry watched her hips twist. _Did… those normally do this, or was that for my benefit? She smelled so tropically fruity, I could almost taste the paradise during selfies. All that tropical stuff was doing her so much justice, because she was so soft to the touch and her skin was smooth and luminous._ He was soooooo curious. What did she like to do? What did she like done for her? What could he do to learn these things? She said she was down to flow this week… he didn't know if he was included in her options or not.

…

The three took various photos, and Jasper took some with Henry, then with Charlotte. "I'm not gonna beat a dead horse, but you two would be UNF, everything!" Jasper commented.

"Unf?" they repeated. "Do you need a glass of water?" Charlotte wondered, facetiously.

"I honestly think that he would watch us do things, if he had a chance…" Henry said as low as possible.

Jasper excitedly responded, "Are you two DOING THINGS?"

Henry smirked and looked at Charlotte, "I ought to tell him that we did," he said in a whisper.

"For comedy?" she said, rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not the kind of woman that guys experience as a joke, so I'm starting to think that you're saying these things to test the waters and see if I'm interested in you beyond our friendship."

He turned red and cleared his throat and fake coughed and cleared his throat again, as Jasper watched in anticipation. "Tell her how you feel, you coward!" Jasper urged.

Charlotte laughed and held out a hand, "Okay, Jasper. You're going a little bit overboard. As always, there is nothing going on between Henry and I." She looked at Henry, still holding her hand out towards Jasper, "You think encouraging him is funny, Hen?" She put her hand down and muttered, "For comedy."

"Oh, oh! Remember that time Jasper brought that crazy girl home and she thought he was in love with you and tried to kill you?"

"I remember the time that _you_ almost _got me_ killed by Jasper's ex, when you for some insane reason told her that Jasper loved me!"

"Because it was true and I didn't mean it like that. I refuse to take responsibility for that particular incident!" Henry defended, regretting the fact that he brought it up tonight. "But, whatever happened to her?"

Jasper shrugged his shoulders and made an idk sound.

…

At one of the night spots, Charlotte and Jasper were dancing together while Henry chatted up some girl. Surely, Charlotte noticed, but wasn't trying to make a thing out of it. However, Jasper was pretty excited about his best friend's seeming success. "I think that Hen is majorly hitting it off with that girl! Are you gonna be his wingman, or should I?"

She furrowed her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes, annoyed. "If they're hitting it off, why would he _need_ a wingperson?"

"For the extra support!" Jasper answered, "Obviously."

She looked at Henry, leaned over in the woman's ear saying something and pointing his thumb towards them. In her mind, he was telling this person that he was here with friends, but they all agreed to have the most fun that they could, so he would leave here with her. Or worst, he was going to come _introduce_ his possible one night grown up sleepover _to_ her and Jasper. She wasn't here for this. "I'll let you handle it," she told Jasper. He gave her a knowing smile, to which, she frowned and told him, "I'm going get another shaved ice, on your tab." He just laughed, even though they both knew that she was serious.

She went to the counter and smiled at the bartender, "Hi! Cute under drinking age girl, back for another virgin maitai shaved ice." She waited and watched Henry talking to the lady who held his attention for the night. He looked like he was definitely gonna get lucky, if his cheer and excitement was any indication.

Char would be living her best life too, if she wasn't so eager to just have some time to not think about guys or school, or work, altogether. Between the finality of her and Max's romance, the work that she did on the site and the app, working for Captain Man and Kid Danger, her internship, her school load, and the guilt of further drifting from friends and family in the midst of it all; she _wanted_ to drink. Kidding. But, things were always hectic.

That was why she promised herself to treat this trip like a normal person her age, despite knowing that she didn't have to be normal. Despite the fact that being normal was overrated and being exceptional was her new normal.

Henry suddenly didn't see Char with Jasper and excused himself from his present company to go find her. Jasper was on the dance floor, by himself, dancing like no one was watching. Plot twist: _Everyone_ was watching.

Eventually, Henry's mystery girl made her way to Jasper, and began dancing along with him.

"Gimme a sip. I'm parched."

"I don't know where your lips have been!"

"On my face, my whole life, scout's honor."

She passed it along and he took a sip and nodded, then waved the bartender to get himself one. "Where's your friend?" She spotted the girl laughing with Jasper, "Oh, with the wingman. Good luck with that. Seemed to be going well."

"No, I was the wingman," Henry said. "For her, I guess. She said Jasper was cute and started asking me questions about him. I tried to make him sound really good, but now that she's over there, I hope he lives up to the greatness."

Charlotte nodded and looked at Jasper, who honestly probably had no idea right now that he wasn't the wingman and could have very possibly been making her think he was in love with Henry by talking _him_ up. She decided to text her friend and give him his best shot. She also remembered something and cackled. Henry threw her a puzzled look. "Remember that time that Jasper convinced a girl that he was Kid Danger for a date?"

Henry laughed too, "He told me that she spent most of the night digging him into a bigger hole!"

"How big could it have been? It was only Jeff…"

Henry had began to drink, then snickered, then accidentally squirted shaved ice from his nose and also got a brain freeze. He held himself in pain and made a miserable sound that alarmed Charlotte so much, she dropped her drink and cupped his face, calling his name. He took some deep breaths, the brain freeze faded and now they were looking at each other, with her hands on his face and his maitai on his shirt. A song was playing in the background, basically about giving love a chance, and Henry laughed at himself, grabbed napkins from the bar to wipe his face and looked down at his shirt. "Jeff won this time," he joked. "I'm gonna go to the house and change."

"I'll come with. I'm pretty partied out. Guess we should tell Jas…" they turned to see Jasper, dipped almost into a backbend by the woman and being kissed on the dancefloor. "We… can send him a text."

Walking to the car, Charlotte said, "It's surprising to me that one wouldn't pretend to be Kid Danger _after_ discovering he's your best friend. Like, that's when he should have taken advantage of it. All the girls LOVE Kid Danger."

"He's taken plenty advantage. I shouldn't have to remind you. And that particular night went so poorly, I mean - imagine if anybody _but_ Jeff had attacked him. Also… ALL the girls don't love Kid Danger. So, jot that down."

"Enough of 'em. Don't play. I see every message you get on Souldates. I don't have a team, remember? I'M the staff."

"Ugh! I'd delete my account if it wasn't the best superhero hookup spot that has existed in our lifetime."

She furrowed her eyebrows, "What kind existed outside of our lifetime?"

"I should have just left it at has existed?"

"Sure should have."

"My bad."

"You're forgiven."

…

Charlotte got out of the shower and Henry was still on the couch and hadn't changed, but was shirtless. She had on a pair of boy shorts and a tank top, her hair in two French braids, to settle it for the night. She gasped, "Thought you were going back to the club?"

"Jasper responded to our text for us not to wait up. I'm not gonna go to the club alone. That's pathetic."

She exhaled a chuckle. "Have you talked to Ray?" She asked, sitting on the couch by him.

"Briefly."

"And? What's up with him? Is he making it okay without you?"

"Yeah, sure." They were silent a moment, then Henry wondered, "Earlier, in the bathroom, me in the towel - did you check me out?"

She corrected him, "I looked at you." Her face was hot and her cheeks and ears changed color.

"Oh. It looked like you looked at me pretty hard. Kinda like how I look at you, these days." He was shaking his leg nervously, thinking about things, debating with himself and trying to make a decision. "Wouldn't be the first stupid thing I've ever done," he said.

"What wouldn't be…?" Henry cut off her question by swiftly closing the space between them and collecting her into his arms for a kiss.

Charlotte climbed onto his lap and deepened the kiss, letting him pull her in closer and not resisting what she knew had been building up for a while. Henry paused, looked at her face, to try to see if she was sure about this. She got up off of his lap and his head dropped.

 _Nice going, Henry. Now, you've made it weird._ Charlotte took his hand and he looked up and noticed she was wordlessly pulling him, so he wordlessly followed. Where was she taking him? _Ugh. Is this one of those moments where she does something like walk me outside, then shut the door on me and lock me out? Because I think my key copy is on the table…_

She walked him to her bedroom and paused, took a deep breath and asked, "We can do this without making a big deal out of _us_ , right?"

Henry wasn't sure what she meant, but since it looked like he had to answer to be allowed into her room he nodded, "Sure, we can! We sure can! Both of those!"

She strummed her fingers on his chest and his skin was on fire. "I don't want to ruin our friendship and I don't want either of us doing anything stupid or crazy for the other, just because of a little Spring Break fling. If we can still be friends, not try to push something serious, and just have fun together, casually…"

"We can do whatever you like," he said, trying to shrug his shoulders casually. She wants casual, he was gonna show her some casual.

"I'd like you to…" she whispered something to him.

He repeated, loudly, "Show you what that hypermotility mouf do?" She rolled her eyes at his uncool eagerness but beckoned him with a finger as she turned to go into the room. Just because he was anxious didn't mean she was no longer interested.


	8. Spring Fling

**Spring Fling**

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. "Charlotte! Charlotte!"

"Shut up, Jasper," she groaned, sleepily.

He called from the other side of the door, "Have you heard from Henry? He's not in his room and he's not answering my texts!"

Charlotte's brown eyes opened with a quickness! She looked over at Henry, looking like a serving of golden, buttery croissants, in the sunlight coming through the blinds, wrapped around her body.

"Uhhh…" she tried to get Henry off of her, "Uhhh… Yeah, actually. From his texts, looks like he got into some action last night too!" She shook Henry, trying to wake him, but he wrapped around tighter and moaned her name, smiling in his sleep. "Shhh!" she hissed.

Jasper, thinking she was addressing him, said, "Sorry. Didn't mean to be loud. It's just that I went to go tell him about my night and when I didn't see him, I panicked."

"I'm sure he's safe, Jasper. Probably wrapped around some beautiful girl _as we speak."_

"Okay…" Now that he was comforted, he was excited about his night again. "Well, can I come in and gash with you, since you're awake?"

"No, Jasper!" She struggled out of Henry's grasp and tried to hide him under her covers in case Jasper barged in anyway. "You woke me, and I want to lay down longer. We can talk later. Maybe after Hen gets back?"

"Okay. Well, I'll start on our breakfast."

"You're the best," she said.

Jasper tilted his head, confused about that compliment. Charlotte never thought he was the best anything. He laughed. _She_ must have had a guy over, too. Good thinking, Char. Invite him here instead of going to his place. In case he's a creep…

When she didn't see Jasper's shadow near the door, she shook Henry harder, "Henry! Hen!"

"What's good?"

"Henry, Jasper is back!"

Henry slowly sat up and rubbed his face, then yawned and stretched his long arms, with literally no sense of urgency. "Jasp is back? Invite him in here so he can tell us about his luck last night." He started to call out, "Jas…"

She climbed on his lap and shoved a hand over his mouth. He just moaned. "Henry, Jasper can't come in here!"

He laughed, "Oh yeah, your stuff is out. Mmmm. Your stuff looks gooood…" Charlotte simply blinked her eyes for a moment as he reached for the bathrobe on her nightstand, to hand it to her.

She just set it aside and expounded, "He can't know about this, _at all._ "

Henry chuckled and leaned back on his elbows, "Why not? He's our best friend, Char." He squinted his eyes, "Are you embarrassed or something?"

"He's a hopeless romantic _and_ he ships us. His poor love-fool's heart would never be able to accept the _casual_ arrangement we've made."

Her reiterating the casual aspect of this almost hurt his feelings. _For crying out loud, I understood "casual" the first time, Char._ Henry smiled and wrapped his arms around her, "Arrangement? That sounds like you plan on us doing this again. I'm in full support of that, because that thing that you did with the… and the… you know. That was nice."

She smiled at his chest and then looked into his eyes, "Last night, I wasn't planning on any repeats, but… you're right - it _was_ nice…" She giggled. He'd caused her to giggle! He kissed her and started positioning her to get ready for another round this morning, but with Jasper in the house, she wasn't risking it. Not even for that hypermotility mouf. _And it do some thangssss._ "Henry. You gotta get out of here." She pointed her thumb outward, got up, and finally grabbed the bathrobe. "Get dressed, go out of the window and come in through the front door in five to ten minutes."

"I'm not doing all of that. Jasper is not bright enough for us to work that hard to trick him…"

"His love fool's heart, Hen!" She hissed.

He rolled his eyes and got dressed… "I didn't have a shirt when I came in here…"

"You'll figure something out," she said, leaving her bedroom. Henry pouted as he climbed out of the window.

…

Jasper wondered, "Should I make enough for Henry, just in case?"

"Uh, yeah. He texted. He's on his way," she lied.

"Ugh. Why isn't he using the Spring Break Group Chat?" Jasper complained, opening up the chat in question on his phone.

"Oh, Uhhh.. be-cause he didn't wanna disturb your hot date and might not realize that you've made it back to the beach house."

"Henry's so considerate, and have you recognized how self aware he is lately? I know that he had a spring fling last night, but didn't we all?"

She was checking some things on her app, when she paused, realizing something, "Jasper… are… are you trying to wingman _me,_ for Henry?"

Jasper chuckled. "Calm down. I know you have some guy in your room, unless you tossed him out of the window or something. I'm not going to ruin your Spring Break by pushing the Henry and Charlotte narrative. But, I also know what's I sees between the two of you."

She raised an eyebrow, "And what's that?"

"Love. Marriage. Horse and carriage. You catch my drift. Married, with children. Children with _amazing hair_!"

"Okay. This is going too far. I'm not having one child before I'm 25 and I'm counting on raking in an award winning scientist, political activist, or some type of Nobel Peace Prize recipient as the genetic donor of my future offspring. How'd I land on Henry in this vision you _sees_?"

"Begrudgingly, but definitely love driven."

"Ha! Tell me a time that I did something 'love driven' that you've witnessed, or even name something love driven that I've done that you've ever just _heard about_!"

His voice went high pitched, as he realized that Charlotte wasn't an extremely loving person, specifically speaking. "You're often… driven by your love of science?"

"Good going." She poured herself some tea as Henry came through the front door, shirtless.

"You know one of you left this door unlocked last night?" He asked and winked at Charlotte for his attempt at pretending that he wasn't there minutes before.

Jasper told him, "It must have been the guy that Charlotte snuck out of here this morning," not even acknowledging the fact that Henry didn't have a shirt on. Maybe Hen was right. Jasper didn't require a lot to trick him.

"Oh? You brought some _random_ dude here? To the place where we're sleeping?" Henry teased Charlotte.

"Ironically enough, not one of us slept here last night," Charlotte said and took a sip of her tea.

Jasper looked confused, "Wait, didn't you sleep here, Charlotte? Wait. Nevermind. You were being witty. I just got it. Actually, I was starting to think the dude was a dud or something."

Henry raised an eyebrow and asked Jasper, "Her dude from last night? Whyyyy would you think that?"

Jasper shrugged his shoulders, "Because she didn't want me to see him, so she didn't want to show him off, and she hasn't said anything about him or how he was. She didn't even want to gash about my date, because she was so concerned with keeping me away from the guy. I mean zero information exchanged and we've been in the same room now for at least fifteen minutes."

Now, Henry felt a way, "Wait. Is that… is that something you two normally…"

"I know where Max has freckles and moles!" Jasper said, to Henry's surprise. "I know his techniques and turn-ons."

"Wow. So, Charlotte told you a lot of personal information about her boyfriend, but didn't say a single thing about last night's guy?" She was starting to blush as she studied her tea. "Well, Charlotte, _was he_ a dud? Did you not enjoy his _techniques_ or something?"

She cleared her throat and commented, "He was so good, I don't want to jinx it by telling you two losers anything." The guys both laughed. Henry reflexively reached out and touched her hand. She glanced at Jasper as she pulled away from his touch. "What about your friend, Hen? Was she up to your expectations?"

"She was everything I could have ever asked for. It's a shame we don't live near each other. Dang Spring Break flings."

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders and turned the conversation on to Jasper's date. "What about that glorious woman you went home with, Jasper? She seemed pretty take charge!"

He served breakfast and took his seat ready to over share and take their minds off of their in plain sight cover-up. Henry couldn't take his eyes off of Charlotte. She was extremely interested in Jasper's story, and Henry would have been, too, but all he could think about was the night that they had together. All he wanted was another one, and another, another...

…

No matter how fun the evening went and no matter where they went or what they did for the night, at the end of it, Charlotte opened her bedroom to Henry. Jasper didn't seem to be catching on and Henry seemed capable of treating her as casually as he did other women that he saw, so as far as she was concerned, it was going successfully.

There were a few moments when they were out and Charlotte was networking that Henry got a bit jealous of the guys that she flirted back with. Jasper _did_ notice that, so Hen tried to turn it down.

They all came back the same time on Wednesday and lounged around on the couch a while, watching movies and late night snacking. Charlotte was generally the first one to fall asleep on nights like that. When she did, she got up, went to go wash up and invited herself to lay down in Henry's bed. He hadn't used the thing in days, so it was already more clean than hers and she hadn't had a chance to throw her covers in the wash from the previous night.

"I'm not as clueless as you think, Henry," Jasper said.

"I don't know what that means." Henry learned a lesson a while back not to presume that Jasper was on the same page as everyone else. That was how they had the crisis of his secret. It all worked out, but it could have had terrible results.

"I know that you're feeling things for Charlotte. The way that you look at her and keep trying to touch her when you think I'm not looking."

"Well… I…"

"You know that nobody wants this more than me, but… Just, be careful with her. You and I both know that Charlotte is tough and can take care of herself, especially her heart, but I think that the relationship with Max opened up a part of her that she wasn't yet ready to discover and anything that she does right now is going to be experimental. She's finding herself right now, and to be blunt, Henry - you'd be the worst person to throw into the midst of that."

Henry scoffed, " _How?_ Not that it's an actual issue."

"Because, she loves you. That could be confusing. You've been with a lot of girls that you liked, but Char's been with one guy and she was trying to build with him. You know? And, I just don't want to see either of you get hurt and I surely don't want to see either of you ruin your inevitable future together."

Henry chuckled, "Alright, Man. Good looking out." It was better not to say more, but darn it - Jasp had a point. Jasp had several points. Jasp had several great points, almost as though he had gotten them from Char, herself. In fact, now, Henry was wondering if she had confessed these things to him. _I mean… She told him about dude's techniques!_ Henry sent her a text: I think we may have made a mistake. We'll talk tomorrow.

After a while, Jasper passed out on the couch and Henry got up to go to bed. He threw a blanket on Jasper, who had somehow managed to turn to a face down butt up position on the couch with at least one arm hanging off of the side. Henry went into his bedroom and found Charlotte there in one of his pajama tops, asleep, with her phone charging on his nightstand. He walked over, saw that his message was waiting for her on her phone and had a small panic. Why had he sent her that? What was he thinking? Listening to JASPER, of all people? He picked up her phone and tried to get into it, but he'd forgotten that she had upped her phone and computer security with the start of Souldates and FaceMask, because of all of the sensitive content that she had access to. She blinked her eyes and squinted them, "Hen, what are you doing?"

"I was… I sent you a message and I was trying to delete it, because it's stupid." She sat up and held her hand out for her phone. He sighed and handed it over. She unlocked her phone and handed it to him, for him to delete. "You aren't curious to know what I sent?"

"You said it was stupid," she told him, and laid back down. He deleted the message, put her phone back, and changed into his pajama bottoms. When he climbed into bed, he snuggled up to her and she turned to face him. They smiled at each other and he pulled her closer and fell to sleep.

The next day, she sent Max a message, for him to receive whenever he got back that she believed it was time to officially change their status on their social media and to let their families know that they were not going to be furthering the relationship that they once had.

...

The week was ending and she was out with her buds for their last night of Spring Break when she got an alert from her app and checked it. It was Max. _While on assignment?_ She had to check this out. It was and S.O.S. call that he sent out via the app because he wasn't able to use any other method! "Oh my God!" She said and rushed past her friends to go outside. She plastered the S.O.S. on every forum in the app and sent the coordinates of where Max's GPS indicated he was, then she waited, alarmed and terrified that nobody would reach them in time enough to help them.

Henry danced on by Jasper and his Spring Break lady as he went to the bar and asked them if they had seen Charlotte, and was directed outside. Whenever he saw her pacing, clutching her phone, he knew that something wasn't right. "Char!" When she jumped, he realized that he probably hadn't needed to say her name so loudly, especially since she already seemed shaken up. "Sorry… What's up?"

She looked like she was trying to stay strong, but was obviously seriously unwell. "It's Max. You know how I told you that he and Phoebe are out on an assignment? Well, several minutes ago, he sent me an S.O.S. alert through the app."

"That's a service on Souldates?" Henry wondered.

"No. It's going to be one on FaceMask, but he only sent it to me, because he knew of course that I'd try to make sure someone else got it. So, I've sent it out all over the Souldates app and nobody has responded. I don't know if anybody is nearby to help them. I don't know what kind of danger they're in…" She held her phone tightly and covered her heart with her hand, "Hen, I'm… worried…"

He nodded, "Okay. Okay… Let's contact Schwoz and see if he can use the control panel in the Man Cave to find something out?" She nodded her head and let Henry do what he offered.

Eventually, she got word from Max and she almost screamed. She opened the call. He was pretty beat up, but alive, and he seemed safe. "Max! I was so afraid that things went terribly wrong! Are you okay? Is Phoebe okay?" At the mention of Phoebe's name his eyes welled up and he bit his lip. "Hey… Where are you, Max? Do you need me to come get you or come see you, or… is there anything that I can do right now?"

" _Can_ I come to you?" he wondered, sadly.

"Yeah. I'll send you the address of where we're staying and I'll get a car back there, stat."

"I can bring you," Henry said. "I'll go grab Jasper and meet you right back here." She mouthed _Thank you_ to him and continued trying to talk to Max. He seemed like he was in shock or something, but the rescuers who answered the online S.O.S. would bring him to her.

Jasper was happy to see Henry when he came up, "For a moment, I thought the two of you ditched me, and I was bummed out about it, but THEN, I wondered if you two ditched me to hook up, and I was _pretty_ excited about that, even though you'd be ignoring my vaid warning..."

"Charlotte's got some kind of emergency with Max. He's meeting her at the house, we gotta take her back."

Jasper looked confused. "Isn't he off on some mission or something? How will he get there?"

"I don't know, but she's been very worked up for a a little while and finally just got through to the guy. It doesn't seem like it's okay. If you wanna stick around here, we'll be at the house."

"No, of course, I'm coming," Jasper said.

They headed out and a woman who had been flirting with Henry earlier ran into them, "Hi! Are… You two heading out?"

Henry nodded, "Yeah, sorry. Enjoy your night."

As they went outside, Jasper commented, "She was extremely attractive. Charlotte must really not be doing okay." Henry wouldn't have brought her home, anyway. He had Charlotte to think about… And now, he had to help her to get to Max. That was a mixed bag of emotions, but he was gonna have to sort through it _after_ Char was okay.

…

Max was closer to Charlotte's apartment, so she was ready to jump on a plane and rush back home, almost not even packing her things up. "I just know it's something _super_ bad. I've never seen him like that, and where is Phoebe? She wasn't with him. He couldn't answer questions about her! The buzz is saying that she vanished on that mission. It's _all over_ the Souldates forums." Jasper volunteered to hang back, turn in the keys to the rentals, check out and everything else, because Charlotte didn't seem okay to fly alone and she was very determined to get home ASAP. Henry wasn't letting her out of his sight.

When they reached her apartment, Max was still in his hero outfit, sitting outside with a chest, staring out straight ahead. "Max!" Charlotte called out and ran over to him, not even closing the Lyft door. Henry took care of getting their stuff, and depressedly watched her rush into Max's arms and comfort him, asking him what happened, was he okay, where was Phoebe, what he needed? Henry had said that heros weren't looking for this - that they were just looking for somebody to warm them up after a mission, but the way that Max broke down in her arms, Henry felt so sorry for him that his envy faded instantly.

He decided to bring in their things and let the two speak in private. Max clung to Charlotte, barely able to clearly articulate his words, "I'm sorry. I know that you want to move on and you're the last person I should have reached out to, but you're… my… I thought of you. I thought I was gonna die and I thought of you." He caressed her and finally pulled himself together long enough to say, "They're going to come and collect her. They're looking at the scene, and will investigate thoroughly. They'll look into me, to make sure that no foul play occurred, on my part…"

"Who will?"

"The Hero League." He waved a hand and opened the chest. Phoebe's frozen body was in it. "I didn't know what to do. I couldn't leave her there. It took so much to freeze her and to move her. It took me a while to accept that I couldn't wake her up…" He started crying again as Charlotte looked at Phoebe's body in shock. "I'm going to get vengeance for her."

"Max…"

"I'm not going to let it go. Phoebe was a hero! She spent her whole life… They took her down, like she was nothing." Charlotte shut the chest and sat next to Max, waiting for the Hero League to pick it up… Pick _her_ up.

After they did, she told Max, "Come on. Let's get you changed out of this and see what else we can do to help you out."

He shook his head, "You and Henry… Are you two…?"

"Something happened, but it's casual. That's not really important, right now, though.

"I just don't want to ruin anything for you. With Phoebe gone, you're the closest friend that I have right now and I can't mess up anybody else's life."

She took his hand, "I said what I said. Let's go inside, Maxy."

They came in and Henry looked sad. Max hated it. He felt the pity oozing off of him. "Hey, I saw the news on my Souldates feed about your sister. I'm sorry for your loss. She was an amazing person. A real hero. Captain Man says that if there's anything we can do, let us know." Max nodded, slowly.

Charlotte said, "I'm gonna get him into the shower and maybe order him some food. Are you sticking around?"

Henry shrugged, "Do you need me to?" He seriously hoped that she didn't. The last thing that he wanted was to part ways after their amazing week together having to see her nurse her unofficial boyfriend through grief.

"You've already done so much for us. You should head home. I'll pay you back for your plane ticket and the ride and stuff…"

"I'll cover it," Max said. "Was my fault."

Henry threw his hands in the air and said gently, but firmly, "Nobody owes me anything. I was just trying to be a friend."

Max approached him, comfortably confident, in his underwear and reached out to shake his hand, "I won't forget it," he said. Henry stared at his hand and didn't _want_ to refuse to shake it, but he was dirty, bloody, in his drawers…

"You've got mission on your body," Charlotte reminded him, taking his hand and leading him toward the shower. "Hen, we'll talk soon. Whenever I have a moment.."

 _Not even a goodbye hug._ "Yeah. I'm gonna go home and touch base with Jasper."

"Thank him for me, too," she asked.

"Sure thing." He decided to wait outside for the pickup car. While he did, he went ahead and resent the same message that he'd deleted from her phone a couple of days before. _I think we may have made a mistake._

Whenever Max finally was clean, had eaten, had cried himself exhausted and been comforted by Charlotte to the best of her ability, he finally fell to sleep in the middle of the night. All that she could think about was how caring and helpful Henry had been while she was frantically worried about Max. That took a great friend and a big man to shove aside his ego and not feel threatened by her concern for another man that she had a history with. She was going to text him to see if he was awake, so that she could call him and tell him all of that, but… she saw his text. She didn't need him to explain. She had been mistaken. He hadn't shoved aside his ego at all, and seeing her care for Max must have made him regret everything that they'd shared this Spring Break. She sighed and looked over at Max, fast asleep, but weary with the worry of what had happened. She texted Henry back: _Was just about to text you about how amazing that you were to me tonight and how special this week was. I'm sorry that we have different views of how things went down. I won't make this mistake again. Have a great night._

She wondered if the have a great night was a little too much, but it was sent, so she simply went to wash up, changed into a pair of Henry's comfy pajamas that she had stolen this week and took a blanket, a book on her tablet and her tea to the couch. Max could have the bed.

…

Henry read her text repeatedly. There was a tone there that he couldn't read. Did he make her mad? Did he make her sad? Was she just disappointed? He didn't want to respond to it, because at this point, he probably was going to make everything worst. He almost threw the phone across the room, but that thing was expensive and basically had his entire life on it. Instead, he went to Souldates to see if he had any contacts, and he did, but he deleted them, then he deleted his account, then he deleted the app. _Have a great night?_

The first night in several that he wasn't gonna have her cuddled up to him, smelling good and being all soft and doing stuff throughout the night when they weren't asleep and him using his power to sneak out before Jasper noticed and then playfully tease each other about the previous night, the next day? Was she back with Max? Was Max gonna be having some consolation tropical sundae tonight? _Ugh. That was tacky. The guy just lost his sister, Henry. How would you feel if you had to see Piper die?_ He frowned. He'd be clinging to Charlotte with all of his might. He'd want to make sure that he didn't lose anybody else…

 _I let my emotions make me do something stupid._


	9. All Maxed Out

**All Maxed Out**

Charlotte turned down the music to focus, pressing buttons with several fingers from each hand and motivating herself as she did, "Come on, Pagemaster. He's no better than you are. You run this…" She unmuted her mouthpiece and continued to play. "Wait a second… was… was _that_ the end of the level? Did I just win this competition?" She asked calmly over a chorus a man tears and grumbling boys. "Hey, now, Fellas. Don't knock the hustle. Good game. Anyone up for another round?" She asked as the payments were entered into her account for her victory.

The Hero League obtained Souldates from her after their investigation into Phoebe Thunderman's death and she needed way more money to start up FaceMask. She still had many superpowered contacts, but her lab needed more for her fall semester of courses, if she wanted to stay ahead of her peers and she would be overseas all summer doing an exchange program fellowship. Paid online gaming and professional tutoring became her primary lab building funds. The Man Cave hadn't contacted her in weeks. She wanted to contact them to touch base and figure out if she was still on payroll, but when she received her check, she figured that Henry just needed some space and that was probably why she hadn't been called upon for anything.

Charlotte took off her headset and grabbed her phone. She had some equipment that she wanted to order and that last game gave her just enough to get it.

She and Max had spent well over two weeks preparing and re-writing their social meds breakup statement. Some were speculating that the shocking and untimely death of his twin had an effect on the couple (many thinking that Charlotte couldn't take the heat and left), but Max was consistently quick to correct those criticisms, professing that Charlotte had been above and beyond kind during this hard time to he and his family and that their breakup had nothing to do with his sister's death, "Not to mention, I would appreciate if people didn't stir up my feelings about that tragedy just to take jabs at Charls. She deserves better and my sister's memory does, as well."

Right before they posted their statement, he told her, "I'm still going to love you for a while, and I can't imagine a time when you can't ever come to me, okay?"

"Same here," she said.

 _Hey, Friends. You all may have noticed that our relationship status just changed. No need to post dozens of questions on what happened, as we took the time out to give everyone the privilege of an explanation. The truth is that we're great friends and plan on always being there for each other, but we both have very different paths to take that simply can't include the other, despite our strong feelings. Nobody messed up. Nobody got dumped. As adults, we took a look at the logistics of our relationship and it honestly just isn't in either of our best interests right now, and we can't imagine a time, considering our paths, when we would ever be able to rekindle things. There is definitely some pain felt by both of us, but we know that this is what's best for ourselves and each other. Our romance has ended, but our journey hasn't._

 _Edit: Please don't disrespect what we did have or think that by insulting our ex that we'll be impressed. Neither of us are here for the other being complained about or accused of things, and one of us might actually put his hands on you for suggesting things. We explained far more than anyone deserved and the additional questions and accusations are becoming exhausting and infuriating._

Max had angry typed that edit, while Charlotte tried to smooth him over with, "Honestly, they aren't bothering me. As long as you're gonna be okay, I don't care what people have to say about what happened between us."

"I _do!_ You were generous not to break up with me after the launch and not to tell people about what happened. I would at least prefer that they blamed _me_ for it."

"Well, most people blame the woman in a lot of things. Don't sweat it."

They hadn't really talked since. At first, they were still liking and commenting on each other's posts, but hopefuls kept rushing in to wonder if this meant that a reunion was taking place. It was too much for Max, with trying not to think about their breakup (he held out hope up until they announced it and made it real), and trying to be there for his family, while feeling inadequate in comparison to what they all lost, the guilt of not being able to save Phoebe, the frustration with not being able to track down her killers… He had real stuff going on, so she gave him space, too.

And the Flow Phase? Deactivated. Charlotte didn't have the time for those types of gymnastics for mediocre grown-up sleepovers with guys who didn't have a superpower to show off. Fortunately, their were lady toys and other ways to get herself physically squared away, if her body asked her to.

…

Four weeks after Spring Break, she finally got a call from the Man Cave. It was Ray. "Charlotte!"

She was alarmed right out of bed and looked at him on her Whiz Watch, worried, "What is it? Is it Henry? What happened?" She asked, adrenaline woke her up immediately.

He threw her an incredulous look, simmered her down with his hands and said, "Calm down, Henry's fine. BUT, we have a major assignment this weekend and Schwoz has been on vacation for the past two weeks."

"What? How have you been doing things for two weeks?" she wondered.

"That… Friend that you and Henry insisted that I hired?"

"I never insisted on that," she clarified, "Wait… _Jasper_ has been handling emergencies for you two?"

"IF YOU CAN CALL IT THAT!" Ray screamed, in Jasper's direction. Charlotte jumped, startled. She heard Jasper apologize in the background.

"I'm doing the best that I can!"

"Charlotte, there's no way that we can trust _him_ to handle a weekend long event!"

"I'll have to see if my weekend is clear…"

"The 4-21 weekend," he inserted.

"The 4-21 weekend? But, there's so many festivals in town that weekend!"

"I will pay you overtime!" There was what sounded like an explosion in the background of the Man Cave and Ray looked off to the side with a straight face. A disappointed face. "Leave this Man Cave," he said, then turned back to Charlotte, "Charlotte. That boy is going to get us killed."

"What did he even just do? It sounded like something blew up!"

"Oh, yeah, there's also gonna be some control panel repairs for you," he made a wincing face.

"I deserve a raise," she said.

"Do you? You haven't even worked in weeks and we still paid you!"

"I'm going to give up the snack festival of the year to come into town to fix your equipment and keep _at least_ your sidekick alive, at the drop of a hat." He grumbled, "But, if you don't want to discuss a raise, I heard that the 4-21 festival here has a food truck that gives you beakers, test tubes and graduated cylinders of snacks. You know exactly how much you're paying for what you're getting…"

"UGH! This is extortion. I guess that you can get a raise," he said, begrudgingly.

"I'll book a flight for after my last Friday class. Someone better pick me up from the airport!"

"We'll send Henry's terrible sister!"

"She's not that…"

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE THE MAN CAVE, AT ONCE!" Ray screamed and left out of her sight. She ended the communication and got up. Might as well pack now. She gathered up three days worth of things, and noticed that she had room for Hen's borrowed pajamas. _Ugh, it's been months. They belong to you, now._

Henry sat at the control panel, which was inexplicably still on fire, with his arms folded, honestly calm, though his mind was racing. "You're not even gonna try to put that out?" Ray asked, coming back, still holding the ray gun he had chased Jasper out of the cave with.

"Our fire extinguisher is either broken or empty," Henry said, calmly.

"Should… We pour water on it?"

"Read that could make it worst."

"Well, what do we need to do, call Charlotte back?" They looked at each other, trying to think of something, anything else…

Whenever Henry and Ray appeared on the image, Henry was quietly sitting and Ray was standing, with his arms folded, pretending to look casual, "Hey, Charlotte. So, not saying that this happened, but if it ever did, does… How would we stop a fire on the control panel, if we have no functional extinguisher and we've been advised not to pour water on it?" She rushed to her apartment control panel to activate the Man Cave's cooling system to stifle the fire. "Thanks, Charlotte… Not that the thing I mentioned was happening. But, thank you for showing us how you'd handle that?"

"Do you want to know how I did it?"

"That's your job! I just gave you a raise!" he fussed before she closed the connection.

Ray shook his head, "Unbelievable. You know, she didn't even _thank_ me for that raise!"

"You owed it to her. She should have gotten a raise a long time ago," Henry said, playing on his phone.

"Who asked you that, Henry?" Now, Henry looked up and just stared at Ray. "Is… this what you've become, now? Is this how you are towards Charlotte? Because, I gotta tell you, this doesn't sit well with me."

"I was just saying that she earned the raise a long time ago. Working remotely is even harder for her, and she's got so much going on to prepare for the summer. How's _that_ going to work out, anyway?"

"How's what going to work out?" Ray asked.

He and Henry stared at each other for a moment as Henry realized that Ray had no idea that Charlotte planned on being out of the country for the summer and now, he either had to tell him so or let him go crazy pestering Charlotte about it. After careful consideration (considering that Ray was already enraged about everything wrong Jasper had done tonight, and it was currently Ray, not Charlotte, that Henry was stuck in a room with), Henry said, "You oughtta just talk to Char about it."

When Ray contacted her a third time, she felt like punching a wall, "Ray, if you managed to set something else in that cave on fire…"

"Charlotte, what's going on in the summer that Henry is telling me to talk to you about?"

Henry was making cut across his throat gestures at Ray for him to not bring his name into this, but Ray wasn't even looking at Henry, so he just threw his head back when he heard his name and accepted his fate - that this was a lose-lose situation.

"What do you mean, Ray?" Charlotte asked, "Is that your way of telling me that you didn't read the email, even after I texted you to, or the link to my post that I messaged you, or the post itself, on various forms of social media that we're friends on, or listen when I contacted the Man Cave and told everyone in the room, including you?"

"Obviously, Charlotte, that's what happened!"

She sighed, "Someone is paying for me to go to an exchange program for African diaspora majoring in sciences. They selected us from multiple countries, and I'm one of only two enrolled from North America. It is one of the biggest accomplishments that I've ever had… You honestly weren't listening or noticed me speaking about this for the past month?"

"I was probably doing very important Man things, Charlotte!" She rolled her eyes, "Did you… Give me a backup plan?" He held his hands together eagerly.

"The plan was that Schwoz takes his vacation now instead of in the summer, because I won't be available."

"Can't you… Still do what you do, at least a little of it, from wherever you'll be?"

"Logistically and physically - probably. But, not mentally or emotionally. My heart won't be in it."

"I'm not paying you while you're gone."

"That's understandable. I was shocked that you've paid me the past four weeks. Honestly, that's all been extra that I tossed into my savings."

He made a multitude of frustrated grunts and groans before disconnecting again, then turned to Henry, "You didn't even have my back?"

"Dude, I can't believe that even you managed to miss all of her fanfare about this foreign fellowship."

"If you must know, I have her muted on everything. Every since she began dating Thunderman's worst."

"They broke up weeks ago," Henry said. "Technically, they broke up a couple of months ago, but like, for real for real, at least like 2 weeks ago."

"Well, how was I supposed to know that, Henry? Did she send me an email about it, too?"

"I sure hope not. That would be a bit much."

Ray went to go follow Charlotte on the sites that they were friends again. The first thing he saw was a link to the donations for the Thunderman family. He frowned and shook his head, "It's a shame what happened to Thunderman's kid. Really should have been the other one…"

"Whoa! Whoa! You cannot say things like that, Dude! You can't joke it or mean it! If Charlotte had heard you say that… Man… You don't even know…"

"I mean… Do you disagree?"

"You'll never get me to say anything like that," Henry said. "Wow. Just… Low. You ought to see someone professionally. Just… Tacky."  
…

Piper helped Charlotte get her things into the SUV and commented, "I can't believe that you came here, on your first college weekend, on the weekend of the greatest snack festival in the country, so that you could work at that stupid junk shop with my stupid brother and his weird boss."

"What can I say? What would they do without me?"

"Well, I'm dropping you off and heading right out of town, myself."

"Going where?"

"To the 4-21 Festival in another town. Mom and Dad are at some kind of retreat, and Henry never even notices when I'm not at home, mainly because he's hardly ever there."

"So, Henry is gonna be home by himself this whole weekend?"

"I presumed that you and Jasper would be there. If you're in town, neither of those idiots are gonna want to let you out of their sight. Unless you have stuff with your family?"

"My parents somehow manage to be home even less, now that I've moved out."

"For years, I thought that there was no way that you had parents at home. They let you go anywhere, like my whole life, as far back as I could remember!"

Charlotte laughed, "Oh, Girl. You don't know the Pages very well. I earned freedoms with good behavior and good grades, and even my freedom was monitored. I was to always check in when I got from point A to point B, when plans on my previously made schedule changed, or something came up. They gave me one of those trackable phones and I have years of Goofle docs, calendars, and spreadsheets that were specifically for them to know where I was at all times, and they randomly matched my GPS to one of the files every week or so, to make sure that there weren't inconsistencies."

"Wow. When did that start?"

"When I got my own phone, at the start of junior high. Before that, I simply couldn't do things. I went to school, came home, and if I went to a party or an event with a classmate, my parents had to meet them and basically interview them before giving me permission."

"Then how the butt did you end up friends with the two most boneheaded boneheads of Swellview? Our parents are questionable, at best and Jasper's mother is a wreck!"

"We logged where I was and what I was supposed to be doing, but they didn't record me or anything. My parents think that I spent seven years tutoring those two." Piper cackled at this news. "My father blamed my poor tutoring skills on the fact that Jasper took up culinary critique as a major."

"How is that a major?" Piper asked, loudly.

"Swellview Community College has some interesting life paths."

"At least Jasper's _trying._ Henry just goes to work at the junk shop everyday. He's not in any classes, he barely does work around the house, and I don't know if he has any hobbies that he takes on with anybody but his weird boss and freaky Jasper, except for going on dates. And what kind of self respecting woman goes on dates with a guy who is content to just work at a junk shop with a grown man who only seems to have child friends? Are… Are they involved romantically?" Piper wondered, actually concerned.

Charlotte covered her mouth, "No. Just the thought of it is terrifying."

"I don't like saying this and if you mention it, I'll swear it's untrue and everyone would believe me…"

"You can simply talk, Piper."

"I care about Henry. Not in a _I care about his day_ way, but I care about him becoming a complete loser with no future. I care about me having a cool family and having to tell them that this junk shop man is their uncle, you know?"

"Well… Henry has a lot of gifts. He's truly special. I think that he helps others in a lot of ways, but he's humble, so he doesn't really get much credit."

"In what ways, though? He didn't even come pick his best friend up from the airport. He's just at that shop. I've never seen a customer in there, and some of that stuff has been in the building for 5 years. It's like it isn't even a shop. It's like it's a holding place for people's mess, or a strange cover up of something more serious…"

Charlotte laughed, "What? Girl, naw… It's a junk shop. Junk N Stuff. It's also a stuff shop. It's been there for years." She laughed uncomfortably.

"Well, whatever it is - if Henry _does_ have any gifts or is special, that place will just drain him dry. It would infuriate me to see him become like that man he works for."

"Why do you dislike him so much?" Charlotte wondered. It was definitely understandable, but Ray had his good moments and Charlotte loved him for those, even if their relationship _was_ often weird.

"He and Henry always seem like they're covering something up, not to mention, he flirts with my mom and it gags me." She gasped and said, "I think I just realized what it is!" Charlotte took a swallow, but didn't say anything, "They're like a serial killer team, and the older one trains the younger one to become as infamous as he is someday. His type is _probably_ my mom and Henry constantly has to keep him from like… stealing her hair or something!" Piper was excited and horrified about the thing that she had just made up.

"Piper… Trust me, the only part of that that's true is that Ray took Henry under his wing. But, definitely not to kill anyone. Have you met them? They don't have the intelligence or the commitment to be serial killers. They would get caught extremely quickly and easily. Ray did need someone to follow in his footsteps, and Henry may be just like him someday, but I promise - I wouldn't support either of them if they weren't both pretty decent guys deep down."

"How good can this legacy be? He interrupted your awesome life for you to fly in and bail him out!" Charlotte just bit her lip. Not telling people that these guys were heroes wasn't _hard,_ but it was annoying. Why in the world had Ray chosen a junk shop owner as his jacking cover? His dad was a scientist, for crying out loud!

…

Charlotte stepped into the front door of Junk N Stuff and Jasper, Henry and Ray were all there, and Jasper ran over to give her a hug, picking her up off of the ground and spinning her around… "This is too much, Jasper," she said calmly, and he set her down and squeezed her cheeks, "Still…" He let go and playfully punched her shoulder. "Okay, somebody please get Jasper away from me before I reach out and touch him back?"

Henry pulled Jasper aside and stood up in front of Charlotte. Jasper pushed him onto her and he felt on her, into her hug. He threw a snickering Jasper a glare, but Jasper moved away from them. "Hey, Hen," she said, looking up at his face.

"Hey, Char." They stared at each other a while, still in the hug.

Ray interrupted with, "Well, now that all of that is out of the way, we need to go downstairs and do a rundown of the weekend's plans." He pointed at Jasper, "Except for you. I don't ever want to see your face down there again."

As they headed for the elevator, Jasper cried out, "I did my best! You're taking the damages out of my paychecks, what more do you want from me?"

On the elevator, Ray wondered, "Still seeing that Thunderman kid?"

"Nope. He hasn't so much as sent a 'WYD' since he dedicated himself to finding… those villains."

"Good. That's the last we mention him, then," Ray said.

"I don't think that's true…" She started, but he cut her off.

"Here is the assignment that Henry and I will be on…"

…

They would be in town, but likely working a lot. The festival would bring out several Swellview villains, and the police wanted to monitor the festival, so CM & KD would be taking police calls and bringing in anyone that they had to arrest to jail themselves! "Wait… Are you just shoving them into the Man Van?"

"Yeah, just gonna fill her up, make a drop and get back to the streets," Ray said.

"Ray… This is a terrible plan. You should have told me ahead of time! I could have gotten you some backup!"

Ray and Henry laughed. "Back up? Back up? Listen, you're just here to answer the phone and tell me where to make my pickup. We don't need backup."

"HOW OFTEN am I wrong, Ray? How often?" Charlotte asked.

"You… gotta be… at some point…" He sighed, "What does backup look like or entail?"

She opened up her SoulDates account from the control panel and said, "Even though I turned over SoulDates to the Hero League, I'm still on staff and didn't lose any of my contacts. The quickest and efficient thing to do would be for me to call in a favor with Max, since you waited so long to tell me what your expectations were."

Henry and Ray both groaned at the suggestion and Ray reminded her, "We weren't supposed to speak about him!"

"The next best thing is for me to make a post for volunteers. The advantage is that I have several friends and many of them want to be able to work with Captain Man. The disadvantage is that many aspiring heroes have made accounts and you may end up with Thumb Buddies caliber backup answering the call." She turned in the chair and looked at them.

"Those guys were pretty nice," Henry said.

"Not very great at heroism, though. They bagged Jeff, really. _Charlotte_ could do _that."_ She narrowed her eyes at him and turned in the seat, "I'm contacting Max."

"What?" Henry asked.

"Noooooo," Ray whined.

Max appeared on the Soul Dates video call. "Charls… You're in the Man Cave…"

"Yeah, sorry to bother you. I know you've got some important things to do, but I was just informed that the Swellview Police has sent these two to do their jobs while they watch over the festival this weekend and I'm asking, not them, if you have time or even references of someone who could help out with some backup?"

"As a matter of fact, I do! I've been using your site to try to find information through forums of villains turned heroes who may know other current villains and at least one of them is from Swellview. I can send you a link to her profile."

"Please do," she waited for a moment as he did so. "And, how goes the work?"

"Getting closer," he said, with a sad smile, "Otherwise, you know that I'd come for you."

"Yeah. Thanks for the reference. Mischief Minder? This is a heroine?"

"Well… Maybe antihero. She's adorable. You'll love her," he said.

She looked familiar, but it was hard to tell with that outfit on. Charlotte took out her own disguise, which was an afrocentric headdress with spiderwebs chains hanging in front of her face and a shall to cover her outfit. "What… is that?" Ray asked. "Do you… Do you have a costume?" he asked, laughing.

"I have to chat with masked humans a lot and it's better for everyone if we're all incognito."

"But, why is your costume so stupid?" he asked.

"I like it," Henry said.

"Blech. You would!" He pulled out his gumballs, "Let's chew some gum and meet this bum."

"Why does she have to be a bum?" Charlotte wondered, but the guys just blew their bubbles to change.

Charlotte contacted the woman and whenever she appeared on screen, she hardly hid her excitement, "Captain Man, calling upon me?"

Ray threw Charlotte an "I hate this already face" and addressed the woman, "Mistress Mischief…"

"Mischief Minder, but go on," she corrected.

He didn't skip a beat, "We are going to be the police this weekend and ask for backup, if needed. Can we count on you?"

"Yes, Captain Man! A thousand times yes!"

He sighed, "Charlotte, make those arrangements. Let's go, Kid." They began to head towards the tubes and Charlotte stared at him with big eyes. Henry didn't move. Instead, he stood there, silently, with wide eyes. "What's wrong with the two of you?"

"I think it's the fact that you referred to the Pagemaster as Charlotte in front of me," Mischief Minder said, from the screen.

"It is 200 % that fact!" Henry said. "Dude!"

He waved a hand, "Charlotte's not a hero. Let's go. She can take care of the details." He pointed to Charlotte and offered, "Sorry," but it wasn't very genuine.

Charlotte turned back to the screen and said, "I know who you are. You keep my secret for yours?"

"Dear, I wouldn't have told. I'm one of the good guys nows. You understand that. Your boyfriend…"

"He isn't my boyfriend, and lets just say deal and not speak on our personal lives."

"Deal."

"Okay. Let me gather up what you need and where we'll need you to be. I want to try to make a few more backup contacts tonight."


	10. Mischief in Swellview

**Mischief in Swellview**

"Backup?" Henry complained, "She thinks _we_ need BACKUP?" He sat in the passenger's seat of the Man Van, talking Ray's ear off, or so he thought. "We've been doing this for how many years? I mean - you did it alone before I came along and together? Swellview's never seen such a team! And she calls in all this backup, like I'm so incapable of doing anything without her. Newsflash, Char - Ray called you in. I was content to let you do your nerd things at your nerd school thousands of miles away! This is why I didn't want you calling her in." He vented. Ray started laughing. "Dude… what? What's funny?"

Ray finally seemed to notice that Henry was speaking. "Kid, I sure hope that you didn't say anything important while I was catching up on our cartoon." Henry noticed that he had the cartoon on, while driving.

"How am I not dead from working with you?" Henry wondered, rhetorically, semi grateful that Ray didn't have his anti-Charlotte rant to possibly leak to her later. He was frustrated with Char, but she was still his Char… And she still looked good, and she still smelled like paradise, and he bet that she still tasted like a dream come true… Now, it was Henry's turn to ignore Ray's words. He knew that they probably weren't important.

Ray had said: "Well, I tell you one thing, Kid. She's a pain, but she's your pain. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even know her. So, thank you for bringing this pain into my life. Charlotte's the worst." Ray had sort of heard Henry. He was trying to actively ignore him, because he knew this drill by now. Henry had been doing this _since_ he came back from Spring Break - pretending that there was nothing between himself and Charlotte, basically cursing her name for every single thing that he didn't like about her, but then defending her any time Ray added on to the complaints. That kid was stupid in love with that girl and Ray would much rather drive and watch cartoons than hear another one of Henry's failed attempts at convincing himself that she wasn't the love of his life and he wasn't angry with her for not being there for him. "And, I mean - just how many bad guys has this Mischief Maiden even caught?" Ray added, for good measure.

Henry corrected him, "Mischief Maker."

Charlotte corrected them both, "Mischief Minder."

They were startled. Henry laughed uncomfortably… "Char, how long have you been on the line?"

"Since I told you that I had a pick up address for you for the group of thugs that Mischief Minder collected. You said, 'Hit us with the address,' then immediately began talking smack about me."

"In our defense (Mostly Henry's because he did the majority of the smack talking), we thought you disconnected the call."

"I hadn't even given you the address! I _still_ haven't! Henry has literally been insulting me for 15 minutes!" There was a long pause, then Charlotte asked, "Do you guys want the address?"

"Yes, please," Henry said.

"It could be useful, thank you," Ray said.

She sent it to their GPS.

"Thank you, Charlotte!" They said in unison.

" #$%! you guys," she said and disconnected the call. Henry and Ray looked at each other and gasped.

Ray laughed, "She is MAD."

"Dude! That's not funny. She _is_ mad, and she's got every right to be."

" _You_ have every right to be mad. Charlotte spent years backing you up and bailing you out, letting you get comfortable with her constantly available assistance, then she just left you. She went away, started a new, great life without you, barely included you, then when she made time for you, more than once she ditched you for that Thunderman kid, and she comes back to help us then suggests that you can't do your job right."

Henry nodded, "Yeah! She _did_ do all those things! #$%! _Us_? #$%! _Her_ is more like it!"

"Hey! Language is a bit far. You're better than that, Henry. Oh, look, it's Madame Mischief."

"Mischief Mistress, Dude!" Henry corrected. They were both wrong, yet again.

Mischief Minder had about seven guys tied together and she was tickling their feet with an electronic feather tickler. "Wha-at is happening?" Henry wondered.

"It appears to be some type of tickle torture," Ray said, "By some type of tickle device…"

"This woman is a weirdo. Let's get these criminals and go."

They got out of the van and heard Mischief Minder cackling as one of the criminals begged her to stop tickling his feet with her device. "Hey, Mischief Maiden! The heroes are here to take the bad guys. You can stop… Whatever this weirdness is," Kid Danger announced.

She turned off her device and looked over at them, "Pleased to be of service," she said, then sauntered her way over to Captain Man, "And what a privilege to be able to see you again, Captain Man… You are… So very attractive."

He smirked and pointed a finger at her, "You are so very correct. I recognize your body. Captain Man never forgets a frame… Though I can't say that I could put a name or a face to it."

"Isn't that the same as forgetting?" Henry offered.

"Kid, the grownups are talking," Ray told him.

Henry sighed and rushed the criminals into the van while CM and MM flirted. "Van's full," he announced.

"Then go take it to the jail," Captain Man told him, still studying Mischief Minder's frame. Henry held out his hands about to advise that being left alone with a van full of criminals just because their backup had a rockin' body was stupid, especially considering that they knew that she was a former villain and they knew nothing else about her, but Ray, almost like reading his mind told him, "I'm indestructible. She can't harm me. And you - weren't you _just_ complaining about not having your ability to do your job respected?" Henry went towards the van. The last thing he heard was Captain Man say to Mischief Minder, "Now, about this body of yours… Where have I seen it before?"

…

All night, Charlotte was short and snippy with the guys, after she overheard their words. Henry tried to give her several of his non-apology apologies, but she shut them all down with work talk about whatever was happening at the moment and it was a busy night, indeed. The city didn't seem to calm down until about 3 am. She and Henry were going to crash at the Man Cave, just to be on standby for emergencies, but when Mischief Minder came back to do the same, they were both pretty weirded out by all the flirting between the two older adults and dismissed themselves, "Just… call us if something comes up," Charlotte said, grabbing her bags. Henry tried to take the bigger one, but she jerked it away, "I can handle my own things, thanks."

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He was still in his outfit when they went up the tubes. Outside, she took off walking and by that point, he was beyond done with her pouting. "Is there anything that you wanna say to me, Char?"

"Nope. If _I_ want to say something, that's what I do. I say it. I don't talk about you behind your back where you have to overhear it accidentally. I'm not a coward."

He laughed, "Oh, so because I didn't want us to fight, I'm a coward? How about, I was trying to spare your feelings?"

"I wouldn't try to spare yours," she said.

"Yeah, I think we all know that. It's been clear by the way that you literally never do."

"So… I'm guessing you've got more to say. Good thing we're both free for the evening. Lay it on me, Hen. What other grievances have I racked up with you over the years?"

"You mean months."

"You tell me. You're the one with the problems."

"It's like… You told me that I'd _always_ be a priority, then you put Max ahead of me like all the time. Me and you shared something that was pretty special to me, and then you just un-handed me as soon as he needed you. I know that he was going through something horrible and I feel for the dude, but I can't help it if I felt bad because of how you just discarded me." She stared at him, wondering if he was actually serious. He was, and he wasn't through with her, yet. "Then, you get here, and one of the first things that you do is go off on me and Ray about how stupid it is for us to not have backup and insist that you collect a team of strangers to help us? Are we that incapable of doing things? I suck so much at my job, I need you to come fix everything or call in _your ex boyfriend,_ who you've already curved me for, _to help me?"_

Charlotte dropped her things and clenched her fists, "Do you know what those minutes of not knowing whether or not Max and Phoebe were okay did to me that night? Here I was, out clubbing, planning my next grownup sleepover with you, and watching Jasper dance like a fool, while people I care about were trapped and alone, not knowing if somebody could get to them in time enough to help. Then, you know what happened next? Their backup arrived _too late._ One of the people that I care about didn't make it, because they didn't have anyone to help them. So, maybe you don't understand why I might want the most important person in my life to have proper backup in a very dangerous assignment, but the fact that you didn't even consider that maybe I reacted the way that I did out of concern says a lot about what you think of me, Henry, and I'm glad that you let me know before I invited myself over to your parents for the weekend to catch up." She shook her head, un-clenched her fists and took a deep breath, "It didn't even cross your mind that I love you. You idiot." She started crying, "I lost a friend! She _died._ If I had to see you the way that I had to see Phoebe… If Ray had to bring you back in a box, if I had to watch someone put that box in the ground and bury it forever… You've already told me that you don't have a backup plan, like there's nothing more to your life than Kid Danger, and I already know that you and Ray rush into deadly situations without any consideration for your life. I'm sorry that I offended you, but you'll have to suck it up, because, as long as _I'm_ here, you aren't rushing into possible death, Mr. Danger!"

He closed the space between them and kissed her. She wanted to fight him, because she was angry and she wasn't one of those women who enjoyed being kissed while she was angry, to shut her up or because her anger was perceived as hot, but something inside of her told her that wasn't what this was. This was Henry finally realizing how stupid he'd been in treating her the way that he had for wanting to help out. This was him finally seeing that she didn't do it because she thought he sucked at his job. She did it because she knew that he'd do whatever it took and she knew that could cost him his life. "Char, I'm sorry," he said, against her lips. She nodded her head and let him hold her. "I'm not gonna say that L word stuff. That's… Not…"

"Please don't. I didn't mean to, either. Kinda disappointed in myself for it."

"Yeah, sounded weird," he laughed, and strummed her cheeks gently.

"You're Kid Danger," she told him.  
"Yeah, I am."

"No. You never blew your Henry bubble. You're literally Kid Danger, hugging and kissing a woman in a public space," she said.

"Oh!" He looked around and saw a few people with phones pointed at them. "I'm gonna…"

"Get out of here. I'll meet your at your parents' house." He rushed off and she headed for the car that she had ordered.

It was at least another hour before Henry climbed into bed. He'd run into a little bit of trouble, got some criminals squared away, changed out of his costume and went for a walk. He got home, showered, was so happy to see that Charlotte was curled up in his bed, in his pajama top, with the bottoms set aside for him, and bone tired. He didn't even put the bottoms on. He just got in bed, gathered her up and smiled when she turned to curl into him, like there had been no time spent between the last time they were laying down together.

…

The next day when he got up, she was already gone. That was a little bit worrying, but he tried not to think too deeply into it. The last thing that he needed to do was make another assumption that could hurt her feelings or make her angry. Her luggage was still in his room, so she at least planned on coming back after work. He took a couple of hours before he went in. When he got there, Ray and Charlotte were having breakfast together, and talking. They got quiet when he got off of the elevator.

"Henry!" Ray said, cheerfully. "Charlotte grabbed assorted bagels and coffee before she came in. We had a small emergency this morning, but she convinced me to let you sleep in, so you're welcome."

"I didn't convince you of anything. I blocked your access to Hen's Whiz Watch and made you go by yourself. You could handle it. He didn't get to sleep until 4 am. AND, you left him by himself for at least 2 hours last night," she corrected the assessment.

Ray ignored it and reiterated to Henry, "You're welcome."

Henry sat down, smiled in Charlotte's direction and grabbed a bagel, "What were you two talking about?"

"It was a build up of Ray's Rants…" Charlotte began to answer, but Ray waved his hands and made sounds to stop her from speaking, "I wasn't going to tell him what about!" To Henry, she said, "I accumulate time to listen to these rants every time I give Ray a do not disturb, and since I gave him one on your behalf, and haven't worked for four weeks, there was… a lot there…"

Ray said quietly, "Don't think for a moment that I was done."

"I wouldn't dare get that lucky," she said, deadpan.

Henry chuckled, "Why didn't you want me to know that, Ray? You, uh… you ranting about me?"

Ray scoffed and laughed, and fake coughed, laughed again, scoffed again. "Pshhht. No!" Henry strongly felt like that meant _yes_ , but an alert came through the control panel and Ray jumped to his feet. "Oh, it's time to work, again. Good old Man work!" He rushed to the control panel and Henry and Charlotte looked at each other.

She offered, "His complaints are generally very trivial."

"But… Not about me, though?" Henry asked.

She patted him on the shoulder, "Of course, not." Henry strongly felt like that meant _of course._

The alert was from a frenzy of Man Fans outside of a Swellview residence, clamoring about with signs and yelling. "Whhyyyyy… are those people at my parents' house?" Charlotte asked, running to the screen. Ray was pulling up the report.

"Man Fans have surrounded the home of a local Swellview family in response to a viral video that surfaced early this morning and has since gained a lot of attention…"

Oliver had on a shirt with Kid Danger kissing Charlotte printed on it and cheered, "I went to school with her! This is better than that time Kid Danger came to a school dance with one of the girls from Kids in the Woods!"

Ray asked Charlotte, "What is that kid wearing?"

Henry asked, "How did they get shirts made this quickly?"

Charlotte commented, "I have thousands of mentions and hundreds of missed calls. Many of them from Piper…"

As she cleared her notifications, more flooded in while Ray watched the footage of Kid Danger and Charlotte kissing not too far away from this building. "You have gotta be kidding me," he said. "I can't believe that the two of you would do something like this."

Henry said, "They don't know who I am. I'm sure Char can still think of a way to spin this. Right Char?"

He looked at her and she put a voicemail on speaker phone of Piper yelling, "AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME? HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON? CAN I MEET HIM, LIKE MEET HIM, MEET HIM? HOW DO YOU KEEP GETTING THESE HOT GUYS? YOU LET ME LEAVE TOWN BEFORE DOING THIS! I'M IN MY CAR, ON MY WAY HOME TO MEET KID DANGER AS FAMILY. YOU'RE MY FAMILY, WHICH MEANS HE'S MY FAMILY NOW!"

She hung it up and confessed, "I'm far more concerned about her than the news."

"I'm concerned about why the two of you are out there kissing in the street, but then I have to hear hours worth of unrequited love from Henry pining over you everyday for a month!" Ray fussed, then quieter, to Charlotte said, "And we'll discuss it later." He stood up, "Right now, we have to quickly make a statement that this isn't what it looks like and that Charlotte is just a girl who threw herself at Kid Danger and has been handled."

"The video clearly shows that he moved in and kissed me," Charlotte said.

The elevator doors opened and Jasper stepped off of it, "WHAT?" He asked, "Why did I have to find this out from Sidney and Oliver?" He had on one of the shirts.

"How are those produced so quickly?" Henry asked, again.

"I've been waiting for years, imagining this day, that kiss, and you do it in the middle of the night, in front of complete strangers?" Jasper asked.

Charlotte quickly said, "It's not what you think, Buddy."

"Then what is it?" Jasper wondered.

"A long story, but I have to go…" Charlotte said.

"Char, you gonna leave _me_ with Jasper? I'm liable to say _anything._ I need to know the plan!" Henry told her.

"I don't have it yet, but I'm working on it…" She held her phone up to show her and Mischief Minder, messaging each other. "We're working on it."

…

Upon realizing that nobody was home at the Page house, and Piper returning to Swellview, the Man Fans instead posted themselves outside of Junk N' Stuff, where they knew that Charlotte worked, when she was in town. Ray watched on the screen and asked himself, "Could we get away with wiping all of their minds?"

"No, we couldn't."

"Well, _where's_ Charlotte? Did she ever tell you the plan?"

"No, but she said that she was on her way back here."

Charlotte arrived and braved the crowd, led by Piper. "Charlotte! Are you and Kid Danger in a relationship?"

She laughed, "No. What would Kid Danger want with a wallflower like me?"

Oliver called out, "He certainly seemed to want that kiss from you!" The others cheered in agreement.

Charlotte laughed and said, "Well, that wasn't his fault. See, I actually gave him a contaminated muffin…"

"What?" Piper asked, confused.

"Yeah. You know who may be able to better explain this for all of you… Swellview's newest heroine, Mischief Minder." She held her hand out to wave the woman over and not only did she come over, but she had another woman in cuffs, when she did.

"What is even taking place?" Piper asked.

Mischief Minder said, "This criminal goes by the name of Gwen. Gwen has a special recipe muffin…" She pulled out a wrapped up one, "One bite and you fall in love with the next person you see. Team Man and I were undercover, trying to catch her, when this girl walked away with the wrong muffin. To avoid her eating it, Kid Danger took it and shoved it into his mouth, taking one for the team. The poor girl had to fight him off of her all night. Captain Man is currently putting him through the process of wearing off the effects of the muffin."

Piper folded her arms and eyed Charlotte suspiciously. Charlotte took the muffin and handed it to her, "You don't believe us, take a bite."

Piper turned to Oliver and said, "Bite this."

"What if it makes me…"

"Don't care. Bite it." He listened, of course and moments later insisted he was in love with Piper, even though she threatened to violently attack him if he came near her. But, it was all of the proof that everyone needed. "I should've known that Kid Danger wasn't going public with a relationship! GOD! Sometimes, it's like I don't even know him, at all! Will he be okay, Mischief Minder?"

"Yeah," she said, waving a hand, "Now, I've got to take this criminal away." She took Gwen and left. Charlotte went into the shop as the crowd thinned.

Ray, Jasper, and Henry came rushing over to her, "Where did Mischief Minder find Gwen?" Henry asked. "Where is she taking her?"

"It's Swellview, every criminal has met before. Gwen and Mischief Minder are old friends, and she did her this solid."

"But… we _hate_ her! Are you just gonna let her go?" Henry asked.

"She definitely reminded me several times that she never got rid of that video," Charlotte shrugged her shoulders. "I'm glad that's over. It could have been bad. Dude, you can never date. This town would truly go nuts."

Jasper sadly sat down, "So… That was because of a muffin? For realsies?"

Henry, Charlotte and Ray all gave him various exaggerated versions of "Yes."

…

Henry took the night off to keep the cover of him recovering from a love muffin. He hung out in the Man Cave with Charlotte, as she dispatched and whatnot. "Man, MiMi is really showing off and showing out," Charlotte said.

"MiMi? That's what you're calling her? I wonder who she is. This makes me uneasy, having somebody we don't know all up in our business like she is."

"I'm keeping close tabs, Hen. I told you - as long as I'm around, you don't have to worry about things." He slid in close behind her, wrapped an arm around her hip, kissed her on the neck and whispered, "Love you, too, Char." She simply kept her eyes on the screen and fought her smile off.


	11. To the Victor, the Spoils

_So, I'm working on a Spotify playlist for the songs that I think of when I think of this story and some of the storylines. If this site allows, I'll give y'all the info to find it. If it doesn't, I'll be sure to post in on my Tumblr side blog mysamcedesmadness. I'll let y'all know when I'm done making it. :)_

 **To the Victor, the Spoils**

Charlotte was asleep when the alert came through. Henry shuffled out of bed and onto the floor before opening the comm for Ray. "Hey, what's up?" He asked, in a whisper.

"Looks like we got some late night shenani… Are you on the floor? Did you fall out of bed?" Ray was ready to cackle about this.

"No, I'm down here because I was gonna do some post Midnight snack pushups. You know, to keep the snack weight from manifesting while I sleep.."

"That's not real," Ray said. "I'm gonna text Charlotte and ask her if that's real."

"Well, I'm sure that she's asleep."

"Doesn't matter, she's about to come in to work, anyway."

"Well, ask her _then,_ then…" Charlotte's phone began to sound because of Ray's text and Henry, being very close to it, said, "Gotta go, see you soon, byeee!" And shut off the comm. Charlotte stirred and reached for her phone. Henry was already throwing on some clothes. She sat up, stretched, in the pajama top (which only had one button buttoned and Henry was surely staring to see if a bee sting might peek out), climbed out of bed, and picked up his discarded pajama bottoms, to slide into. "Are you going to wear that?"

"I didn't pack for all these late night awakenings. I don't have the clothes to accommodate the shifts. I work inside of a lair. There's nobody there to impress." He put his hands on his hips and she threw him a look, "You put your mouth on me while I had mayonnaise in my hair. Let's not play this 'I should try to impress you' game."

"Fair enough. Your butt still looked cute," he told her with a shrug of his shoulders.

"My everything still looked cute. I just had a bunch of mayo in my hair."

"Which is still weird to me…" She threw him a look, "But, I appreciate the lengths you go through to keep yourself healthy and happy, including your hair."

"You're learning," she said. She looked at her phone and turned her nose up, "I swear, Ray sends me the most bizarre texts… Listen to this - 'Do post Midnight snack pushups prevent weight gain from said snack during the sleeping process? I thought that sleep burned off calories. I always eat before going to sleep. Eating makes the sleeping feel better. Should I be doing pushups instead?'"

"Just tell him yes, Dude." Henry chuckled.

.

It was like all of the criminals suddenly remembered that they only had one night left before the police were back on the job with Captain Man and Kid Danger. Some of the crimes didn't even make sense. Someone went into the mannequin factory and put all of their heads on backwards! Charlotte was so sleepy! And she had an early flight back to school _and_ class in the morning. She dozed off at the control panel more than a few times and after the emergencies were all clear and the guys were on their way back, she laid down to take a nap, and woke up back at Henry's, when her alarm went off. "What the what?"

He smiled gently and said softly, "Didn't want to wake you, so I picked you up and brought you home and let you sleep."

"Have you been sitting there watching me this whole time?" She asked.

"I knew that it'd be way too hard to wake up to take you to the airport if I went back to sleep. You looked super peaceful. Every now and then, though, you have a mild freak out. You like shake your hands and rock side to side like you're about to have a meltdown and trying to find an exit, but then you just return to calm sleep."

She got up and got dressed, "Sometimes, I dream that I've missed a deadline," she confessed. "Such a nightmare. Then, I remember that I never miss deadlines and rationalize that I must be dreaming, inside of the dream. Usually, I go on to meet the deadline. Some of my best dreams, to be honest."

"You are _such_ a nerd," he said, laughing, but staring at her, in awe.

.

At the airport, he wanted to see her off to the plane, because he knew that they probably weren't going to see each other again for a few months. Maybe not even be able to chat quickly, besides online. She told him that she'd be able to use the Whiz Watch, but she wasn't sure how her schedule would be, and that their time zones would be so drastically different that they likely would never be awake at the same time. She was crazy if she thought that he wasn't going to set aside some time to lose sleep just to talk to her, despite her protests. Waiting on her flight, she leaned onto Henry's shoulder and went to sleep on him again. He simply held her, kissed her on the forehead and sighed. God, he was gonna miss her, even more than usual. They were finally in a really good place and now, he wasn't sure what this meant, and it seemed unfair with her having so much going on to ask, "What are we?"

He just decided to assume that they were at the last thing that they discussed - they loved each other, but nobody mentioned wanting to be together and the last thing that was officially said was that she wanted things casual and for him not to let his emotions make him do something stupid, because let's be real; _she_ never intended to ever do something stupid. That particular parameter was specifically spoken about for him. Besides, he hurt her, talking the way that he did about her and not being considerate of her feelings or her motives. He felt like a complete jackass when she broke down in front of him. That kiss stuff made it even harder for them to have a full convo about what happened between them. Most of their alone time since was sleeping, which was actually super nice. He didn't know that he could enjoy just sleeping with and holding somebody that he'd already done so much more with, but it felt right. It felt good. The announcement for her flight sounded and he instantly was miserable as he shook her a little to wake her up. "Time to go, Char."

She sat up and made a pouting face, "I don't wanna," she whined.

"I don't want you to, either… But, you'll hate us both tomorrow if you don't." She stood up. "Semester's almost over, then you have that awesome African adventure."

"Thanks, Henry. I needed a little push. This weekend was emotional." He walked her to the line and stayed near her until she was actually boarding the plane, then he stayed in the airport for a bit longer and watched the plane leave. Henry hated how he was feeling right now. Being without her was becoming a lot for him to handle.

.

Charlotte could hardly wait to get some adequate sleep! She had to nearly go directly to class after the plane, getting home, getting washed up and dressed, checking her messages, and gathering her school things. She had gotten this very strange "You lied," message from someone that she recognized, but couldn't remember from where. He was kinda cute, but she remembered not liking him, for some reason. That was one of the bad things about managing a website. You see so many faces that if you don't personally know somebody, anybody could be, well, anybody. She'd reply later. Instead, she went to class, tired and lifeless, but put her best forward, anyway. She went home, crashed, woke up hours later and plotted out her homework schedule for the week, checked her messages again to see that the same person had messaged her, "About Kid Danger."

"Oh, butt." She sighed and guessed she had to now figure out who this dude was and what he was talking about. She scanned his face into the Man Cave database. "The Spoiler?"

She rolled her eyes and sent him a message, "Okay, Dude. I don't have time for this. Give me your little spoiler and go."

It took him a moment to respond, but he eventually did. "Kid Danger definitely didn't eat one of those muffins that you gave that kid. That lady didn't arrest the muffin woman. You know all of them - the Mischief Minder, the Muffin Woman and Kid Danger. You're an ally to them, which means you probably know Captain Man, too."

Charlotte: Cool story, Bro. Bye-bye now.

Spoiler: You _know_ that I always know what I'm talking about.

Charlotte: I didn't even know that you still existed, much less that you're still running your mouth.

Spoiler: But, you did know that I had level 5 computer knowledge the last time we crossed paths.

Charlotte: How would I know that, Spoiler? I'm just a girl who was at the movies with the girl who beat you with a glowbat.

Spoiler: You'd know because you're pretty handy with technology, yourself. You think that I didn't look into the girl who foiled my spoiler plans for Galaxy Wars 9? I sure did, and I had virtually nothing, until the other night, when you got caught kissing Kid Danger, and I was able to get into your phone.

Charlotte: I'm bored with this. Goodnight.

But, she was actually scared. The Man Cave had been hacked before, her phone wasn't _above_ it, and he was right about one thing - she did know that several years ago he was already at a level 5 and he probably didn't give up on computers since then. His threats rang true and that was terrifying. She immediately contacted the Man Cave and relayed the story to Ray and Henry. She allowed them to see the messages between them.

"Well, what does the Spoiler even _want?"_ Henry wondered, suddenly extremely defensive, that Charlotte was being targeted, once again, because _he_ kissed _her_ in public.

She checked the messages to see if he had said anything else since she dismissed him. He'd sent her a link, which she reluctantly opened and prayed wasn't a virus. She sighed and cursed under her breath. "He wants to challenge me to a hacking contest. If I win, he vows to get lost again and not bother me, ever. But, if _he_ wins, he wants to know the identities of Mischief Minder, Kid Danger and Captain Man." She held her head. "I can't accept this contest. I'm an inventor, not a hacker." They heard the alert for another message and she smacked her lips. "This… troglodyte just asked me out on a date, win or lose... That's it. I'm gonna whoop his butt in this contest!"

"But, you just said that you're not a hacker!"

"I'm not, but I bet that I have one in my Souldates net!"

"You're… gonna cheat?" Henry asked, shocked.

"What's he gonna do about it? Call the cops?" Ray asked, laughing.

"But, Char's not a cheater. That goes against everything she stands for!"

"Henry, this guy wants to know my friends' secret identities. We already know that he has the ability to text secrets to everyone in Swellview, and that was years ago. He's already suggested that he's become more advanced since then. This is a no brainer!" She raised her fists in the air, "I have Max _and_ Schwoz available. Between the three of us, he can't do anything about… What is this incoming?" She gasped, long, and hard as a video of herself, that she knew to belong to Max came through her computer, thus also through the screen at the Man Cave. "Divert your eyes, please!" She said, pressing buttons to try to get rid of it. Ray rushed away from the screen in complete horror. Henry had trouble turning away. On the one hand, seeing Charlotte sucking on someone else's fingers was very unnerving, but it was recorded POV style, so it could easily be… "Divert your eyes, Henry Hart!" She snapped and he turned around quickly.

Spoiler: Nice try, getting your friends involved. I did _not_ expect to find that! Some of these videos are simply _scandalous._ You and that Max guy were really hot and heavy, huh? Tell you what… You have 24 hours to accept my challenge, or some of these will have to be sent to the phones of everyone at your college.

Charlotte: That is VILE!

Spoiler: You could tell me who Kid Danger and Captain Man are right now and be done with it. You're not even the one that I really want. Well, not in that way, anyway. You're just caught in the crossfire…

Max appeared on the computer screen, but it was a younger version of himself - not by a lot, but the last that Charlotte saw him, he had a little beard and this image was clean shaven.

Max: Whoever you are, you have crossed the wrong guy by peeking into those files. This means war.

Spoiler: Interesting… This Max guy… He's good! I love this interactive firewall he has in his system. I should have challenged him, for the worthy competition! To be frank, Charlotte, the contest with you is simply a formality, to seemingly give you a chance to keep your secret…

Max: (Appears on screen, this time present form, with the beard) Charls… What the heck is happening, right now? Who is this person that hacked into my computer?

Charlotte: An old enemy of Swellview. He's threatening to show these videos that _I thought_ were gone to my entire school if I don't reveal their identities to him.

Max: I'm so sorry. I promise, I had them extremely protected. It was just really hard for me to get rid of them.

Charlotte: The important thing right now is that I need to protect Captain Man and Kid Danger…

Max: Wait… (Reads the information from Char's messages) This jerk challenged you, threatened you _AND_ asked you out on a date, in the same conversation? That's it. It. Is. On.

Max vanished from her screen and she typed her final message to the Spoiler.

Charlotte: I'll take that 24 hours. Thank you.

She turned off her computer, took a deep breath and tried not to cry. This was so bad. Why the heck was _she_ always getting caught up in the middle of this stuff? She looked at Ray and Henry, Henry's back was to her and Ray was pacing the Man Cave with his eyes clothes and ears covered making mouth noises. "Guys…" Henry turned around, but Ray didn't hear her. She smiled and said, "In 24 hours, my life might change, but I promise, I'm not telling him about you. I'd rather take my chances and defend my bodily autonomy when and if he leaks those videos. So, don't worry. Good old Charlotte won't break her oath."

Henry clenched his fists and wondered, "Is there any way for you to track where he is through his computer?"

"I can try, but once again, that's not my expertise. He was able to figure out that I was reaching out to Schwoz and Max for assistance. He'd likely catch me and probably has something in place to confuse my computers, anyway."

"I'm not gonna let anybody ruin you, Char. Believe that, Baby…" Henry blinked startled at the term of endearment that just fell out of his mouth.

She didn't seem shaken by it. She just nodded her head and said, "Thanks, Hen. I'm gonna… I got homework." When she disconnected, Henry immediately contacted Max.

"Henry? I don't think right now is a good time for you to make this call," he said. The Spoiler could be spying into it, but he didn't want to say that right now, because he didn't want to give Henry away.

"Can we link up? We gotta do something about… something," Henry said, trying not to give away any secrets.

"I can't step away from my computer, at the moment, but you're perfectly welcome to come to me, if you feel it necessary," Max said.

"I definitely do." He couldn't believe that he was agreeing to this, but one thing about Max - he cared just as much about Charlotte and what was best for her, so even though Henry didn't like him or the "he and Charlotte" thing, he knew that he could trust him and that he needed his help to help Char.

As they got to the tubes, Ray said, "MiMi is going to meet us and come along."

"Whhhy?" Henry wondered.

"You heard Charlotte. Her identity might be in trouble, too. Just because _we_ don't know who she is, doesn't mean that she should be exposed, anymore than we want to be exposed."

"I don't like the idea of Team Danger growing into a trio," Henry said. "Especially not with her. I'm not trying to go from sidekick to third wheel while the two of you speak in innuendo."

"Up the tubes!" Ray said, ignoring his complaints.

.

Charlotte woke up the next morning having barely gotten any sleep. She was scared to turn on her computer, but knew that she had to face the music. She wasn't expecting _this_ music, though.

It was a link from the Spoiler and when she clicked on it, there was feed of Captain Man, Kid Danger, Mischief Minder and Max Thunderman taking him down. "What the…" the message had been from Henry.

 _Hey Char, we found him. Thunderman took care of the computer stuff, Captain Man took care of the culprit. You're free to enjoy your nerdness in peace._ She laughed. "What?" She contacted him via Whiz Watch.

"Hey, Char. What's up?"

"You guys found the Spoiler?"

"With Thunderman's skill. We're headed back to Swellview, he's gone back home. Everything's good."

"You know I want to hear the story."

"I mean…"

 _Max stormed right onto Spoiler's property, not even attempting to sneak in. Captain Man was quick behind him, not wanting to look like a beta. The cameras that pointed towards them, Max pulled his hand towards himself and pulled them from their posts._

" _I keep forgetting that this kid has telekinesis," Ray said out loud and kicked the door open. They entered and were greeted by various screens, which all had footage of Charlotte, Henry could only guess from Max's collection. Ray frowned and Max waved his hands, shutting each of them down one by one as they passed them._

" _Hey… who recorded those?" Henry asked._

" _I did."_

" _But, you were… featured in some…"_

" _One of the perks of my telekinetic condition is that I can do that and also hold a camera."_

 _Henry gasped, "I never would have considered to use telekinesis that way."_

" _If you had it, you totally would. You'd consider it pretty much once you hit puberty. At least, I did."_

" _And Charlotte always knew when you were recording?" Max paused and stared at Henry. "Just saying, seems like a lot of records and she'd thought they were gone. Maybe you don't always tell her everything.."_

" _I wouldn't do something like that without her consent."_

" _You kept them in your possession without her consent."_

 _Max turned on Henry suddenly and said, "I know that you and Charls have something special and I can't take away from that. But you need to understand that she and I had something special too and no matter what you tell yourself, you can't take away from it. It was hard for me to let go of her. That's the only thing that I'm guilty of. I also still have and revisit our messages. It's not easy moving on from her. If you have things to say about it, there'll be time after we get this guy."_

 _Max walked off and Ray chuckled._

 _The Spoiler got up when he saw them enter his workspace and prepared for a fight. Max laughed and telekinetically flung him into the wall and held him there. He jumped on the computer and tried to figure out if any of Charlotte's sensitive material had been sent anywhere or was scheduled or set to be sent anywhere. Looked like they were in time enough to stop him. "Take him and do with him whatever you need to do. I'm deleting everything he has and destroying his system, for good measure."_

 _Spoiler asked, "Oh, what? You're going to let them take me to jail? I'll have access to computers on the inside and I'm not very good at keeping my mouth shut." Max raised an eyebrow and continued working, deciding to ignore the threats. "And if I get lonely, I can just recall one of your Charlotte productions to keep me company…" Max and Henry both charged at the Spoiler._

 _Henry reached him first and ran off of the side of the wall to kick him in the face. Ray winced. MiMi tried not to laugh. Max dropped Spoiler from being held against the wall and he and Henry took turns punching him. "Should we stop them?"_

" _After the videos of Charlotte that I had to see more than once today? No chance. He let his mouth write a check his butt can't cash. Them's the breaks."_

" _They look like they might kill him," she said, concerned._

 _He rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, kids. Lesson learned." Henry reluctantly backed down and gently pulled Max away, too. Max held his hand out at Spoiler, seemingly causing him physical distress. "Thunderman - whatever you're doing, cut it out."_

 _Max didn't listen to Ray and Spoiler was turning blue, now. Henry shook Max, "Hey, Dude! You're gonna kill him."_

" _You think that if we let him go that he'll just leave her in peace?" Max asked, not letting up._

" _I think that if you kill him, Charlotte will be at least disappointed in you. Best case scenario. Spoiler alert - she is a buzzkill about the smallest of infractions," Ray advised him._

 _Henry let go of Max for a moment to say, "No, she isn't. She's just sensible."_

 _Max dropped his hand and Spoiler struggled to breathe. He picked him up, with his hand, by the collar and made him face him, "If you ever reach out to her, bother her, no… If I even hear that you murmured her name, I'll come back for you, and these goody two shoes won't be there to talk me down." He shoved him into Henry and stormed off. MiMi went to go check on him._

 _Henry and Ray exchanged concerned looks and Ray asked, "Is it my imagination or is that kid WAY MORE demented than the last time we saw him?"_

" _That was most definitely troubling. Captain Man… I think that he was gonna kill the Spoiler, like seriously. Did you see the look in his eyes?"_

" _He didn't seem to be joking."_

" _He wasn't," Spoiler choked out. "That guy's crazy. Get me away from him, as soon as possible, before he changes his mind." They escorted him away and Henry wondered, "Should we tell Charlotte about that?"_

" _No! Not right now, at least. I mean… Maybe he was just really passionate because this creep threatened Charlotte and once he's cooled down, he'll be okay. I don't want to get her riled up and she turns on him and he gets even darker, somehow."_

" _Ugh. What if he does something later, then she finds out we hid this?"_

" _She'll forgive us," Ray said, confidently. Henry sighed._

Charlotte stared at his hologram, "Henry! The story?"

"Yeah, everything went fine. It went according to plan and we got our man."

She smiled and nodded. "Well, I wish I was there, so that I could thank you properly…" She glanced at her feet, then back up at his smiling face.

"Me too."

.

Mischief Minder rubbed Max's shoulders, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just kinda snapped a little. I'll be fine. You really should catch up with them."

"I will. But, I'm also concerned about you. That display in front of Captain Man and Kid Danger…?"

"Like I said, I snapped. I'll. Be. Fine."

"I just want to make sure before I go…"

"Cohort! I'm fine. Okay? For crying out loud. It's like having my mother here."

She threw her head back and even through the mask he could sense the face she was making, "I'm nowhere near old enough to be your mother, young man."

"Keep telling yourself that," he said.

"So, you do seem fine," she said, looked him up and down like she could just slap his sassy little face, and went to catch up with Henry and Ray.


	12. What Are We?

_A/N: I've began working on the Spotify playlist. The title is "Family Danger: Chenry Fanfic," and the account is darkandlovelypurple. I thought about going through the chapters and putting the song that I most listened to during writing the chapter in author's notes, but I don't really feel like doing that. Lol. But, since we're here, I listened to the song mentioned in the chapter (Redemption, on the Black Panther soundtrack) a lot and also Prince's 17 Days while writing this one._

 _Also, I very generically and vaguely use "African," simply because it would have to be a whole nother story to get into all the intricacies of the continent and I'm not trying to have a huge issue with who's already in power and what kind of culture each country has. Like Swellview is a made up place, technically, Charlotte's in a made up, unnamed African country right now. I do understand that it isn't a monolith._

 **What Are We?**

Charlotte stopped by Max's to see him before leaving. Henry was caught up with some stuff and wouldn't be able to come see her, so since Max wasn't nearly as far away she decided to check in on him. He hadn't said much to her since the whole event with the Spoiler. When she came inside of his apartment he was telekinetically exercising his muscles. "So, have you just given up on doing things physically completely?"

"I decided to become spiritually aligned with every aspect of my powers. Soon it'll be second nature. Soon I'll be purposefully and efficiently using it in my sleep."

"Well, it's working, at least." His muscles looked GOODT. Charlotte couldn't help but stare at her bearded and shirtless ex.

"What did they tell you?"

"Who?"

"Team Man."

"Was there something to tell?" She _thought_ they were a little too low-key. They were suspiciously humble about a victory, and didn't divulge much of a story. To be honest, maybe that _was_ why she was here. Max would probably give her the facts. "Because, you know that you can tell me anything, Max. Right?" She placed a hand on his shoulder and he pulled her close and hugged her.

"I was extremely angry." She nodded her head. She had been angry too. "He violated your space and your privacy and when we got there, he had further violated it, with this huge display of screens." She froze. He had shown _more_ videos of her? Henry nor Ray mentioned that part. "THEN, he threatened you again AND he made a casual comment, a joke about using the memory of your videos to keep him company in jail and I just lost it." She sighed and rubbed his back. "Henry had to pull me off of him and I was still pretty committed to stopping his lungs."

Now, she pulled back, "Wait…"

"I tried to kill him," he simply confessed.

"Wait. You _tried_ to, or you wanted to?"

"I easily could've, but Captain Man told me that you would be disappointed, so I didn't go through with it. I did however let him know if he tried anything like this again with you, it was definitely going to happen."

"So… you _tried_ to kill him, let my boys talk you out of it, but then _threatened_ to kill him. Does that cover everything that I should know?"

"For the moment."

She sighed. "I'm glad that you didn't kill him. We have no idea what something like that would do to your beautiful spirit…" he scoffed and reached for a bottle of water, letting her go, in the process. "Don't (scoff noise) me, Mr. Thunderman. You're a kind soul and you have a good heart. You're like the meme that looks like he could kill you, but is really a cinnamon roll. And I love you as a cinnamon roll." He pursed his lips and tried to keep from smiling. He wasn't going to argue with her, even though that cinnamon roll dude was long gone. He wasn't sure if it happened the moment that Phoebe was gone or if the reaction waited until after Charlotte, too, was gone. But, at some point in hunting down Phoebe's killers, he realized that there was nothing that he wouldn't do to accomplish it. He realized afterwards that it was a slippery slope. Now, he simply felt like there was nothing that he wouldn't do, period.

A few months ago, he _never_ would have been this honest with Charlotte about something so serious about himself - something that could make her see him as the thing he felt like. "I'm going through a lot of changes," he said. "I'm worried that you and me won't make it past them." She frowned and pulled him into another hug, "Charlotte, I'm serious."

"So am I. If you're gonna be pushing me away, I might as well make sure I get to hug your bearded, muscled body now." He chuckled and she smiled, glad that she could still make him laugh. The truth was that she agreed with him. She felt them drifting apart, or more accurately - him pulling away from her.

"You wanna spend some quality goodbye time with it?" He asked.

"With… your bearded, muscled body? No doubt, but I think we both know that would be a bad idea."

"Because of you and Henry… Guess that's going well, then."

"No. I mean, it's not going _bad,_ it's just undefined. We're not really addressing it and I haven't figured out if that's best or not, but then again… It was _my_ idea in the first place to keep it casual."

He furrowed his eyebrows and wondered, "Is that still how you want it? Casual?"

"It's what's best, right now. I'm about to be on another continent for 3 months. Kid Danger has no woman shortage and Henry is a young man with needs."

"But, if he knew that you wanted him exclusively, he'd exercise discipline, right?"

"I'd like to think so… but I've also witnessed him cheat on girls who were already way out of his league. Imagining it being different with someone that he didn't even see as a woman until maybe a year ago? Dream on, right?"

"He's an idiot if you aren't exaggerating."

"I may be mildly exaggerating on his cheating volume… but he definitely rebounds quickly."

"His loss, then."

"I was also thinking about how selfish it might be of me… I'd be dating him, knowing his heart is in Swellview and that I'm never going back to stay. It would be temporary, so why not keep it casual? Why put parameters on something that won't last?"

"If he cares, his heart would be wherever you are. Mine was… Is. It doesn't matter how far apart we are."

"Well, Metroburg isn't as far from me as Swellview."

"It wouldn't matter if you were in Zimbabwe. Of course, if I love someone, I'm willing to do anything for them, so that's naturally how I define actions of love."

"If _I_ love someone, I'm willing to do what's best for them, within reason and within my power, but there's nobody that I love enough to do _anything_ for, and as a matter of fact, I'd go so far as to say that instead of love, that might be obsession you're talking about."

"Might be." He shrugged his shoulders and the TV turned on. "Wanna watch anything?"

"Actually, can I just catch a nap until I have to go?"

"You know you get to do whatever you want here. So privileged."

"Spoiled rotten, to be honest."

.

Henry was bummed about having to work before Charlotte had to leave for the summer, and even more upset about how it felt when she left. If someone took his Cloe disappointment and his Bianca depression, combined it, had his Veronica confusion poured all over it, then let Schwoz eat it and poop it out - that's how he felt about Charlotte's absence.

Mischief Minder greeted him when he came into the Man Cave and he sighed and rolled his eyes. _Was she living here, or something? God!_ "What's wrong, young Danger?"

"Young Danger?" He repeated with a bigger eye roll.

"Well, that's better than _boy Danger,_ right?"

He quickly turned and pointed at her, "How did you know about that cartoon?"

She held both hands up in surrender and confessed, "Captain Man has been ranting to me in Charlotte's absence. I don't remember how it came up. Most of the time he's just rambling, then he looks at me, tells me what Charlotte would say or do, reminds himself that it's pointless to rant to me because I don't know enough, and then he continues and proceeds to do it the next time we meet."

Henry lowered his pointing hand and she lowered her raised hands. "Well, _I_ don't like to talk about that cartoon. I didn't like seeing myself depicted in that light. Anyway, why are you here? You're here like all of the time, now."

She shrugged her shoulders, "Sometimes, I sleep over. Captain Man doesn't feel like the whole process of blinding me and escorting me away from his lair, so he just lets me sleep here." Henry looked a little bit horrified. "Don't worry, Kid. We don't take off our masks." He was relieved for a moment, then he looked even more horrified at the thought of them… doing their business… in masks…

Ray walked into the main area, remembered that MiMi was there, turned around quickly and hid, then came back in his mask. Henry gave him a head nod, "Hey, Captain Man. How was your night? Sleep well?" MiMi hid a smirk and watched CM stumble over Henry's very simple question.

"Morning. Sleep? Did I sleep well? Why would I not? What is this line of questioning anyway?"

Henry was about to tell him to chill when his Whiz Watch began to play the song Redemption by Zacari & Babes Wodumo. His entire face brightened and get answered it, "Char!"

"Why does his watch play music?"MiMi wondered.

Captain Man rolled his eyes as Henry left the room. "Charlotte thought it was better to play music instead of beeping, because people are always asking why it beeps."

"It's a watch, though."

"Right? Kids are SO weird!"

.

"Char, you look great!" Henry said.

She smiled and shook her head, "I've had several shots, been on planes for hours, and haven't washed up, did my hair or anything else."

He muttered, "Still look great."

"Well, I don't really feel great. How come you and Ray didn't tell me that Max almost killed the Spoiler?"

"Ray told you during one of his rants?"

"Max told me, and I can't believe that _you_ didn't."

"We thought it was best to leave it alone and hope nothing to worry about came up in the future." She sighed. "Don't be mad, Char."

"Never tell a woman how to feel… but, I'm not mad. Just felt left out. Felt like I'm really becoming no longer a member of Team Man." She shrugged her shoulders, "Anyway, I gotta get settled in and washed up. For some reason, I thought you might wanna know that I got here safely, but now that I think about it, that's so stupid." She laughed at herself, awkwardly.

"S'not stupid. I do want to know that. You really don't have any idea how much I care about you, do you?"

She smiled at her fingers. "Is it a lot?"

"Jeah. It's.. like… a whole lot." He was blushing because she was still smiling, but he leaned against the wall and wondered, "Don't you care about me, too?" She blinked and gave him an "obviously" wince. "I mean, I know you do, I just also know that you saw him before you left and you and me have something special, but you and him had something special too…"

Now, her face changed, "Speaking of which, you also failed to mention that you saw more videos of me."

"No, I purposely didn't bring that up. It was horrifying. Like, have you ever had to try to imagine somebody that you wanna be with so bad with somebody else? It was like that feeling, but with evidence. I was shook."

"I mean, it couldn't have been any worse than some of the posts on Kid Danger's Date Wall on Souldates. The only reason that it's bothering you is because we're far apart and having me seems like a challenge. If I lived in Swellview, you'd be excited for a few weeks, neglect me for a few, then completely lose interest. And I don't think that's your fault. I think that it's just extremely hard for any ordinary person to keep the attention of a super."

Henry, resenting and resembling her remarks complained, "Oh, so.. not only are you supposedly ordinary now, but I've been labeled as the one who would lose interest? That's both untrue and unfair!"

She began to take her hair out of the puff and detangle it. "You said that with an inflection like I would lose interest in you."

"You would. In fact, it's not completely obvious that you even have an interest in me. At best, I can see that I have a very small compartment in your heart, smaller one in your life, as your former best friend. I saw your mom at the store, she didn't even know we still communicate. She told me that she was hoping that you and Max got together, not having a clue that me and you were…" he shut himself up.

Now, the question was in the air. _What are we?_ Both were curious. Neither wanted to ask, and now it was just thick and tangible and on the tip of everybody's lips.

Charlotte waited for him to fill in the blanks, since this was his rant and he'd seemed to be heading somewhere with it. But, he also seed like the words caught in his throat. With her hair now stretched and wavy, hanging down her shoulders and glistening with natural pre-poo, she stared back at him, "Well… what are we?"

Henry shrugged, "I don't know what we are, but I know what I am and I'm in love with you."

She gave him a sad smile and set her detangling comb down, "What does that look like for me, in your mind?"

Henry knew that she had all of these goals and none of them included Swellview. He also knew that he had _one_ goal, his mission to be Kid Danger, and it specifically involved Swellview. He sighed and shook his head, "In my mind, it doesn't work. It can't."

She nodded in agreement, but was still sad that it was finally out in the open. They couldn't pretend now. They couldn't ignore the obvious. But, they were adults and at least one of them was mature, so she said, "Well, if your mind can handle this… When neither of us are involved in anything more serious, we can still see each other, casually. I totally understand if you don't want that, though."

"I totally do want that… You are so pretty." He marveled at her hologram. He'd known for a while that her hair was much longer than her curls made it appear, but had only seen her with it stretched out like this a couple of times. She removed her watch and set it down.

"Cool. I should go. I've gotta wash all of this flight off of me and put my hair in a protective style."

"Can I hang out, until we get an emergency?" He wondered, hoping he didn't sound too desperate.

"Yeah, why not?" Charlotte got undressed and stepped into the shower, spent most of that time singing memorization songs for the languages that she might encounter on this trip. When she got out, all wet and glistening,Henry stared hungrily. She was dry and covered up before long, but it had been enough to jog his memory, stir his loins, attack his cravings…

Besides, when she started rubbing on her skin moisturizer and lip balm and slipped into her boyshorts… she got even sexier. Like, she had on a little bit of clothing and it was hotter than her being naked and wet. "You good, Hen?" She asked with a teasing smile. She knew he wasn't.

"Good." He repeated, just thinking about all of the ways he was going to casually see her when she came back. But, he heard the alarm going off and groaned. "Charlotte, I've gotta…" she nodded her head. "Hey… and if you, you know… Find someone you know, not casual…"

"You would be the first person to know. You'll know before they do." He smiled.

"For crying out loud Kid! Tell Charlotte good night and get in here!"

Henry rolled his eyes. "First he practically moves MiMi in here, now he's acting like he's got to wait on me to do something…"

"I was wondering why you were in mask in the Man Cave."

"Speaking of in masks, remind me to tell you about…"

Ray came in said, "Goodnight, Charlotte," and ended the call. "Emergency. Henry. Stat." Henry was furious, but this was the job. He decided to just think about the fact that Charlotte told him that she was available to him as long as neither of them were seriously involved with anyone. He smiled about it. Nothing could ruin his mood right now.

.

Charlotte was 11 hours ahead of Henry. Whenever he was getting ready for bed, she was either in the middle of her day or it was just getting started (depending on when he went to bed), and when she went to bed, he was usually at work. Ray was being a real stickler about how much time and energy that they were spending on the Whiz Watches, too. Charlotte figured that it might be more efficient for them to just make video messages for each other, send them and respond to them when they had the time. But, that made for Henry spending many long hours waiting for Charlotte's responses, because she was busy with her fellowship. But, whenever she made him wait for a long time, she usually included some twerking on her video, so silver linings. Ugh… Long distance would be unbearable, if they were anything but casual.

How do you casually love someone? He'd wondered at first, then he'd remembered that this time around, _she_ didn't mention love, at all. In fact, he said it and her response was to ask him how it would work. He knew Charlotte well enough to know that whenever she asked a question, she usually knew the answer to it and was just trying to help him think about it. They had plenty of exchanges on the subject of him speaking before thinking it through. So, he tried to think this through (after he agreed to this arrangement, of course).

He could love casually - that was kind of what he did with his family. He loved them all dearly and would do anything to help them and protect them, even Piper. Especially Piper. They were somehow closer than he was to either of his parents, likely because he was often left to care for her and had the burden of responsibility for her since he was 12. He did a huge portion of helping her grow up, while she was super unbearable most of the time. Piper was very difficult to love, at times, with her temper and her violence and general meanness. So, whenever she was in danger - the time that she was going to most likely kill herself with rocks for Kid Danger, the time that she was taken hostage by Dr. Minyak… Any of the times that she was in an unsafe situation - he was severely worried about her and willing to do whatever he could to save her. That was love. They weren't friends, and their sibling relationship looked extremely different from many of the siblings that he knew, but he loved her. It was a different kind of love for Char, but if he could love his family at arm's length, he certainly could do this with the person that has known every secret of his world for 6 years. Charlotte might say that he was rationalizing. That he was trying to convince _himself_ that he could do this. He'd ignore her and press forward. "I can do this." He got a notification of a message from Charlotte and smiled wide enough for it to spread off of his face. When he unlocked his phone to view it, someone tagged her in something and he went to check it. It was a photo of her and her group of fellowship friends and the caption said that they were getting ready to go enjoy a night out at someone's "palace." _Palace. Weird._

He watched the video and she was getting her makeup done by one of the other girls and another one pinning up her goddess locs for a updo. "Hey, Hen. I've been helping the girls get ready for this event that we have tonight. Get this - we're going to be guests at a charity event hosted by the benefactors of our fellowship and I'll be able to rub elbows with African dignitaries from all over the continent!" The other girls screamed and Charlotte looked SO excited. Her life outside of Swellview was so interesting and wonderful. _Dignitaries?!_ He got to meet some cool local people as Kid Danger, but not like presidents and prime ministers. The stars and stuff that he did get to meet was as an alter ego and for saving the town. Charlotte was meeting people because she was so incredibly smart that she often found herself in circles and on lists as one of the greatest minds of their time (or having the potential to be).

.

He was at home, with Piper aggressively helping Jasper to get ready for his final exam in Culinary Critique class. "Wearing a tie with jello molds is going to get your grade knocked down at least a letter! Jello molds are disgusting!"

"That's the joke, Piper! My teacher will appreciate my subtle food humor!"

"If you blow my chances to get all of the leftover food from the exams to use for my Danger Zone party, I'll choke you with this tie!"

Henry paused and turned around, finally paying them some attention, "What's a Danger Zone party?"

Jasper began shaving in the Harts' living room, "Piper thinks that Kid Danger and Captain Man are drifting apart. She's got this whole plan of having a party in honor of Kid Danger, so that he can feel better about being slowly replaced as a sidekick by Mischief Minder."

"WHY WOULD YOU SHAVE IN OUR LIVING ROOM?" Piper screamed before shoving Jasper out of the front door and locking it.

"Why do you think that Kid Danger is being replaced?"

"You know. He and Captain Man split up a lot more in their fights, but he's got Mischief Minder as backup most of the time, while Kid Danger is out there on his own. But, since the campaign to be a new Kid Danger has died down, nobody is focusing on joining the Captain Man team. This is _my_ perfect chance to appeal to Kid Danger to submit _my_ application for the job."

"For what job, Piper?"

"To be his backup. I've been working on a costume and everything!"

"Sh...what?"

She rolled her eyes, "You wouldn't understand. You've been a lukewarm fan from the beginning," she said.

"I'm not even going to dignify that accusation with a response."

She rolled her eyes and went to the front door to see Jasper with shave cuts and a partially still creamed face. "Do you regret what you did?" He nodded his head. "Go to the bathroom and fix your face. We have to go soon."

Henry sat down on the couch and Piper sighed, "Are you coming to your friend's stupid thing, or are you gonna more about Charlotte's hot new boyfriend?"

"Charlotte's what say what now?" Henry asked.

Piper looked all too happy to open up a page on her Pear Pad for him, "This prince met Charlotte at a charity gala and has been very publicly trying to woo her for days. I _really_ should rethink using my smarts for good. Charlotte gets all the best guys. I'm still not fully convinced that she couldn't rope in Kid Danger if she wanted him…"

Henry looked at the photos from the party, where GOD, Charlotte looked beautiful. She was adorned like an African princess, and many of her friends were, as well. They all seemed to be wearing different types of garb, so he didn't know where each reflected. But, this one guy, this prince, had her on his timeline all night. He made numerous jokes that he had met his #Nyasha #WestAfricanCinderella. It was on every photo of her and the two of them, then he had days worth of sending her gifts and Messengers. Henry frowned. She hadn't mentioned it.

Last night, he had given her a whole interactive strip tease and they watched each other pleasure themselves via hologram. She'd gotten him to demonstrate how he was gonna eat the tropical sundae when he saw her again. He caused her an eruption without even being able to touch her. She could have _mentioned_ that she had yet another higher up the dating chain ladder dude trying to cuff her.

Jasper came down and Piper took her Pad back, "You coming or not?"

Henry stood up. Might as well be there for Jasper. "Yeah, of course. Hey, Jasper, you know anything about that Prince dude that's been showering Char with gifts?"

"Prince Akuchi, sure. He's the youngest son in a dynasty, the only unmarried one in his family. STEM enthusiast that puts a lot of money into young African scientists, has a school of science in his name, and is known for being a bit of a party boy, but one that always had the highest marks in his studies."

"So, a rich, intelligent, philanthropist who's more handsome than you," Piper translated. Henry agreed.

Jasper offered, "Charlotte does not like him one bit." Now, Henry felt better. "She thinks that some of his theories are dangerous, some of his practices are unethical and she says he doesn't accept "No," as an answer. She's been turning him down for days. She's almost ready to send Max in after him."

"What would Max do?" Piper wondered.

Henry and Jasper knew.

.

"So, let me get this straight… the costume that Piper had me helping her design for a costume ball was _actually_ her hero costume to try to petition Kid Danger to be his backup in times of battle?" Charlotte asked, trying not to laugh.

"It was so adorable. She reminded of when she was a little kid and wanted to convince Mom and Dad that she was responsible enough for a pony."

"Oh my God! I forgot about that! _And that is why, I, Piper, your evermore cherished daughter deserves a unicorn, dare I say, a Pegasus, but will settle within your means for a simple, beautiful pony instead."_ Charlotte imitated. "That was the year that we became friends!"

"Was it?"

"Yeah. We were at the same school in 4th grade when my parents moved to Swellview, but in 5th grade, we started talking… I'm almost certain that one of our first conversations was about this."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! For career day, you came in with that jockey outfit and talked about equestrian careers, bceause YOU wanted a pony, but your parents didn't think you could handle one."

"I spent months learning everything that I could about horses to prove myself to them and they still said no. They got me a bug plushie horse, instead. I totally understood Piper's plight. But when you showed me the video, I couldn't hold back." They both laughed again. "So, what did Kid Danger think about the presentation?"

"I think that Kid Danger would have been way more impressed with Girl Danger if Henry Hart didn't already know that she was Piper Hart. I don't know… this job seems kinda dead end and definitely isn't as rewarding as it initially appears to be. Plus, it's dangerous. Piper doesn't have a power and her costume isn't even super."

"I could help her turn her costume super and she doesn't necessarily need a power to be a hero. She seems to really wanna do it. Why don't you let her have a trial run and see if she really wants it. Sort of how MiMi is doing with Ray."

"Speaking of! I never told you about the masks! So, get this… she and Ray wear masks _every time."_

"Every time? What does that mean? You mean like all the time? Because that makes sense since they don't want each other to know who they are."

"Right, but even when they… You know… _EVERY time."_

"OOOOOHHHH. Yeah, that makes sense, too. They're keeping their identities from each other. Don't you keep yours on when Kid Danger is on the prowl?"

"Yeah, but that was different. It wasn't the same girl over and over. After a while, that seems weird. It's so impersonal. Like, I wouldn't wear my mask with you."

"No?" She sounded a little disappointed.

"I mean, unless you wanted me to or something… what are you suggesting to me by this tone?"

She giggled a little and shrugged her shoulders, "A supersuit is one of my kinks."

"Whhhhhhhhhyyyy would you take so long to tell me this? Ugh. When you get back, Kid Danger is gonna put something good on you."

"Mask and all?"

"Every bit of the D… As in Danger! I meant as in Danger!"

"I'm here for all the D that he gives me." She smiled and bit her tongue at the same time and all Henry wanted was to have her with him right now. Giving her the Danger was gonna be boss, but just having her held close to him, her soft skin, her soothing, even breathing against his chest, the way that his own skin and lips were a gazillion times softer for kissing, touching and rubbing against her. "I miss you so much, Char."

She nodded, "I get that on every level." She wanted to chronicle every single thing that happened to her to share with Henry. He was generally always on her mind and she more than once was ready to come back home to him and just live whatever life she would have at his side. She had to frequently talk herself out of doing the stupid thing for him. Her body wanted him SO bad and her heart was in pain being this far away from him, even having this time with him everyday. "I love you so much, Hen."

He teared up. "I love you. I miss you. I have to see you. Can I come see you?"

"Did you think this through?"

He sighed, "No. I didn't."

"How would that even work, Henry?"

"It wouldn't. You know I'm not an avid thinker before speaking!"

She laughed and nodded, "I accept it with the rest of your flaws."

"So kind of you, your grace." She mock curtsied to him and he was glad the floor was open for this subject. "I low-key panicked whenever I heard about that dignitary dude trying to wife you." He could tell by her facial expression that she didn't appreciate his honesty about this. But, he felt like maybe he could elaborate and fix this. "It's just we're both not really officially committed to each other, with the whole "casual up until the real deal comes along" situationship, and I guess every time a good option comes along, I'm gonna shake in my boots a little."

"Wow."

"Are you mad that I feel that way?"

"No, but I _am_ surprised. I just felt like we were supervibing and that you finally _got_ how my mind and my heart works. Finding out that you don't is upsetting for me." Her eyes were a little damp and to be honest, it broke Henry's heart a little. _He'd_ just done this to her…

"I'm sorry. It's not that I don't think you care or even that I think you're looking to better deal me as soon as you can. It's just…" He didn't know if he could admit these things out loud, but the eager and begging look in her eyes for him to fix her heart right now gave him a boost of courage, "You're so high above me, Char. This all feels like borrowed time. It feels like energy that I don't deserve. It feels like if I were watching a movie or a show and I saw this match, I'd spend every moment talking about how unbelievable it is that Charlotte would ever be into Henry. And in the moments when a genius superhero or a rich academic is chasing after her and she decides on Henry instead, well… That just seems like crappy writing."

He noticed some relief on her face. She was _really_ glad to know that he didn't think she was some heartless clout chaser who would ghost him the moment a guy "worthy" of her resume entered the scene. "Henry… We're real. This isn't crappy writing. It's a jacking great story and I want to see where it goes. But, you can't keep feeling this way. There are gonna be a lot of guys that chase me around. I mean… I'm doing great things, right now and smart is the new sexy. You and me chose each other for right now, right?"

"Right."

"Okay, well shut up and get chose."


	13. Summertime Sadness

_Yes, Summertime Sadness was the song I listened to mostly while writing this one. Super long A/N at the end of chapter._

 **Summertime Sadness**

Piper, Jasper and Henry went to the movies. (Actually, they rode to the movies together) and when they got out of the vehicle, Piper announced, "And from here on out, I don't know either of you," before she met up with some of her friends.

Jasper called out, "Everybody knows that you know us, Piper! This is Swellview, not New York City!"

One of her friends asked, "Who is that weird old guy?"

"Not a clue," Piper said and they went inside.

Jasper folded his arms and shook his head, "I thought that kid would grow out of this, by now." Henry smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

Whenever he paid the ticketmaster, she wondered, "Where's your girlfriend, tonight?"

"My what?"

"She means Charlotte," Jasper clarified. "She's overseas this summer!"

"Really? How cool! She's lucky, huh? Awww, you must miss her alot."

"She's not my girlfriend," Henry said. Jasper just smirked about it.

"She's not? But you two were always together," the girl at the movies said.

"Friends spend a lot of time together, too!" Henry insisted. "I spend as much time with him," he said and pointed to Jasper.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I mean, I didn't mean it to be insulting. I thought you were cute together."

"We've never been together!" Henry snapped, snatching his ticket.

"What's _his_ problem?"

"He misses his girlfriend," Jasper said, nodding his head and paying for his ticket.

.

Henry and Charlotte hadn't been able to speak much over the past few weeks. Both of them were busy and this was Henry's first night off in a while, and he knew that Ray was going to be going on a date with MiMi, while he was watching a movie with Jasper. He wanted to be happy about a night out with his main bro, but he missed her and was moody. He couldn't help it.

.

Captain Man and Mischief Minder went to dinner, mindful of the stares, because _why_ would they be in costume? He glanced around and reminded other guests, "Heroes must eat, too." She smiled and looked over the menu. "I was reviewing some old footage and I do believe that I've pinned down your body, Nurse." She stopped smiling and closed her menu. "Yes, I knew it!"

"Well, what now?"

"Now, you tell me everything. You've been to the Man Cave…"

"I've never seen where it is."

"You know at least one of my team members' real identity."

"I knew about Charlotte _before_ I became backup. Remember when you tried to take our memories away and we got them back?"

"Sort of… Why are you here?"

"Swellview is my home."

"No, why are you working with me and where has Dr. Minyak been?"

"I'm trying to do right. I still love mischief and mayhem, but I've found that if you target villains instead of old people, others are less likely to try to stop you. I figured that if I rack up lots of good deeds as Mischief Minder, then I can water down my legacy as Nurse Cohort. And Minyak, well, he is involuntarily retired, and that's about all that I can say about that. I understand if you no longer trust me and want me out of your operation."

"Are you kidding? Nurse Cohort was always the hottest villain, to me!"

She laughed, for a moment, then crossed her hands on the table and said, "We think that it would be best if Henry doesn't know."

"You… Know _HENRY?"_ Ray now noted, defensively. "How do you know Henry? He's been extremely careful to keep it secret!"  
"We feel it's best that he doesn't know because he's had his best friend and his sister kidnapped by me before and he isn't as open to bygones as Charlotte."

"Charlotte knows that you know Henry?"

"Heavens, no! As protective of him as she is? No."

"Then, who did you mean when you said "we?" Do you mean to tell me that someone else out there knows who Henry is?"

"Max knows. You all wore masks whenever you first met him, but you just kept saying each others' names, so he and his sister knew who you were. And now, he still knows, from being aligned with the operation. And of course, he and I are friends. That's it."

"So, you also know who I am."

"In your defense, you've been very good at keeping me from knowing, had I not already known. Look… Captain Man, I don't mean you any ill will. If I did, I've had a lot of time over the past few months to inflict it upon you. I get it if you don't trust me, but I've never been more fulfilled as I am when I put on this mask and rain mischief upon villains."

"I suppose time will tell if your intentions are bad. For now, I'm content to leave things as they've been. What do you say?"

"I like that idea."

.

Henry decided to try to go on a date. Not necessarily because he wanted to date, but the option came up and the girl was pretty and he technically had no reason _not_ to, so he decided that he might as well try. But, he spent most of the night worried about how Charlotte might feel if she knew he was on a date, convincing himself that she probably went on dates too, and arguing internally with himself whether or not this was right of him to do.

Afterwards, when he got back to the Man Cave, where Ray and Schwoz were for some reason setting up bumper cars, he decided not to even ask about it and instead go straight to his thing, "What do you do when you and a friend have agreed to keep things casual and you've kept things casual with your friend, but when you have a chance to do things with another woman, you can't because you keep thinking about the casual things with your friend?"

"Ahhh, Henry! Just in time! Come test out the bumper cars," Ray said. For a moment, Henry thought that he hadn't heard what he said, but he tagged on, "That'll get your mind off of girl troubles. Speaking of girl troubles, what seems to be the general, the whole problem that you're having?"

Henry got into a bumper car and elaborated, "Hypothetically, you want to tell your friend how you feel but you know she's sticking with this casual thing with you, and probably still able to have things with other guys, because she's not thinking of you that way, because you've both agreed to keep it casual but the only reason that you agreed to it was because she never would have touched you if she knew you had all these feelings?"

Partially listening, partially giving Schwoz directions, Ray asked, "Are you presuming that Charlotte feels this way or did she tell you that she feels this way?"

"I didn't say Charlotte," Henry quickly said.

"You didn't but who else would it be?"

"Whoever she may be, she outlined to me what she intended and expected and I'm not doing so well with it, Man..." Ray gave Schwoz a signal and he used a remote control to bump one car into Henry's car, knocking him to the left and the right, much to Ray and Schwoz's entertainment and Henry's dismay. "What is even happening? Why do we have bumper cars in here?"

Schwoz answered, "For the Captain Man Carnival."

"And it's not just bumper cars, Henry. It's _extreme_ bumper cars. Check this out…" He signaled to Schwoz and whenever Schwoz messed with the dials, his RC bumper car began to smash into Henry's relentlessly.

"Hey! Hey! I think that's enough! They work!" Henry said and jumped out of the bumper car.

Ray laughed. "Well, I think that this young lady, who you for some reason think that I would ever believe is anybody but Charlotte, has been honest with you. If you can't do what you initially agreed to, you owe it to her to be completely honest with her about your intentions and your expectations." Ray surprised himself with this good advice. He must have been getting soft in his old age. Young age! Young age! He would always be young!

"What if she cuts me off? What if she never speaks to me again?"

"That doesn't sound like Charlotte."

"I didn't say this was about Charlotte."

"Of course not. Whoever she is, if she cuts you off for being honest, then you get to get started on the life without her. Good riddance to someone would insensitive. But, she might surprise you. Maybe she's feeling the same way and having similar doubts. Maybe _she's_ waiting on _you_ to man up and make your declaration."

"Does _that_ sound like Charlotte?... Not that we're necessarily talking Charlotte."

"All I can say for sure is that sometimes people can surprise you… Schwoz! Time to test out the bumper car missiles…"

.

The next time around, Henry sent her a message saying that he had a date, and to wish him luck, because he really didn't want to go on a date but was bored. She simply sent him back a smiley face. He didn't know if that meant that she was happy for him, that she was just playing along, or if it was facetious. "You have any dates planned?" he wondered.

"No time," was all she said.

"Cool," he replied.

"I don't really have time to chat right now. Maybe later? You can tell me how your date went." Then, he wondered if her first _No time_ meant that she didn't have time to chat, not necessarily that she didn't have the time to date… then, he wondered if that meant that she DID have time to date and he wondered if she was dating too!

Charlotte contacted him as soon as she got back to her quarters. "Hey! How was your date?" she asked, right away.

"Stressful. I didn't like it. It felt all wrong." She tried to hide her relief, but he noticed her small sigh and the softening of her eyes. "How was your day?"

"Stressful, but I loved it. We got a lot accomplished today, though I must admit that I was a little bit distracted by your messages. You're dating again, I guess?"

"Trying to…"

She nodded her head and set her things down. She hadn't even done that before reaching out. To be honest, she thought about Hen out on some date with a pretty girl, being wooed by her beauty and taken up with her relatable conversation. After all, he wouldn't have told her about the date if it meant nothing, right? He'd just do whatever, mind his business and move on, right? "What do you think about that?" Henry wondered.

"I think that you're a big boy and you can do what you want," she said.

"Do you care?"

"Yeah, I care, but it's not like I would get in your way if you find something good. I'm not _that_ much of a monster." But, she felt like saying more, like getting really angry that he'd throw her off of her game by telling her that he was out there dating and she felt like getting extremely possessive in her jealousy. Instead, she choked all of that down and wondered, "So, what went wrong?"

"She wasn't you."

"Hen, you've got to have some type of realistic standard, if you ever want to be that guy who finds love and starts a family."

"I know. But, I've got time to grow up, right? We're still young. Maybe by the time you're ready to start your family, I'll be grown up enough to…"

He frowned and she smiled. "Please, go on."

"I was gonna suggest that we get married!" They both laughed and he stopped, "Why are you laughing so hard?"

"The thought of me going back to Swellview! Though, I have to admit, on some nights - you seriously make me consider it." She wiped her eyes. "That would be like… a trip, right? If I actually did that?"

"I'd never let you," he promised.

"Let me?" She repeated.  
"I'd be in fierce opposition to it. Now, tell me what you did today that I distracted you from…"

"You want to hear about what I did?" she asked, suspiciously. Henry never wanted to actually hear about whatever she was involved in, and she wasn't sure that this wasn't something to alleviate his dating guilt.

.

Charlotte dove into work after finding out that Henry was dating again. She guessed that she thought that they were in the same headspace. That they couldn't _be_ together, but that they were _as together_ as they _could_ be. She was a little bit mad at herself for letting her emotions get so entangled with him. She guessed that she would always have this special feeling for Henry, but if he was dating… She couldn't keep on acting like they were all good with the way that things were.

He contacted her around bedtime and she contemplated for a while before hitting her DND button. "Charlotte's going to be so mad that she missed you, but, alas - she's asleep. Maybe tomorrow?" Henry looked at his phone, and saw Charlotte was listed as online on her socmed. He tried one more time and the message automatically came up… like she had just set the Whiz Watch to DND. So, maybe she was about to go to bed, but she couldn't say goodnight?

"Shouldn't've told her about your date," he said and shook his head.

.

"Hey, Char?"

"Huh?" She didn't turn towards him as she kept writing.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at _you_?"

"For going on dates. You just seem so distant every since I said that I was."

"Well, if you're going on dates and your main problem is that she isn't me, don't you think it's best that you have less of me and more of her to, I don't know, cleanse your pallet?"

He thought about it for a while, "Maybe. Hey, how come you said _you_ with like an emphasis on _you,_ like you're not mad at _me,_ but maybe at somebody else?" She took a deep breath. "It's slowly becoming me, isn't it?"

"In this very moment, it's a little bit you, Henry." She set her pen down, "I'm not mad at you for going on dates. I don't have the right to be mad at you for that."

"You wait until you have the right to be mad to actually be mad?" Henry laughed, "I don't do that. You should allow yourself to feel how you feel."

"It's interesting that you say that…" she stood up, "Because, I usually try to weigh things out logically and speak from a place of reason, even when I have a lot of feelings about something." He nodded. She _was_ mad. "And, I keep my business to myself, unless of course, someone else may be affected. So, I _have been_ wondering why would Henry tell me that he's dating, if not to get some type of reaction out of me?"

"I felt guilty. I felt like you should know.."

"Why, though? So it could be hard for me to concentrate on my day? So that it could hover over me that you're moving on and all that I have waiting for me is school?"

"Wwwwhat?"

"Or, did Henry think that if he dangled this in front of me, my last chance to be swept off of my feet, that I was gonna come rushing home to Swellview to claim him and forget about everything else that makes sense?"

"Literally none of that. I thought that when you started dating Max, it was painful for me to see it without having been told and I didn't want you to go through that."

"So, then - dating _is_ going very well for you if you're comparing what you have right now to Max and I."

"No. I… Why did you say that you weren't mad at me if you _are?"_

"I'm not mad at you. You're being you. I'm mad at myself for thinking that you wouldn't be you. For some reason thinking that with me, you'd be different!"

"This isn't fair, Char. I'm totally different with you."

She folded her arms and massaged the bridge of her nose and Henry just knew that whatever was coming up next, he was going to hate it. "Maybe we should cool down. Take a break. Give each other some space."

"We're not even together, so what would the break be from? Our friendship? You don't… you don't want to be my friend now?"

"I want a break, now. I've got things to do and so do you. We're spreading ourselves thin to squeeze each other into our lives and maybe right now that isn't the most sensible decision."

"You're breaking up with me in a non-official relationship?"

"Umm, no. You're dating. I'm just setting you free. You shouldn't have to feel obligated to try to explain yourself to someone that you aren't involved with, right?"

Henry held his head, "This is hurting me."

"Me too… Let's nip it, before the pain goes too deep, yeah?"

.

Henry survived the rest of summer. He and Jasper caught up on a lot of bro time that he'd previously unintentionally neglected, having access to Charlotte. Though, Henry found out things from Jasper blabbing, such as, "Charlotte's got a belly ring now!" Or, "Charlotte's actually considering an overseas assignment after she graduates, or at least something where she can travel a lot, like her parents." Henry usually just froze up a little whenever her name came up. He didn't even know when she would be back in the States.

But, eventually, the time came. He was signing up for some online classes for Fall. He figured having some general studies, maybe perhaps getting something Business related, he'd at least be able to run Junk N' Stuff once Ray was done. He'd already taken a year off since graduation and he and Jasper were usually at the store these days. Ray was often gone and barely explained where he'd been when he got back. On top of that, even Jasper was starting to work less hours because he was setting up culinary critiquing gigs, with Piper as his agent.

"So… You're a food critic," Schwoz asked, when Jasper turned in another request off.

"No! Anybody can do that. Culinary Critique takes hours of refining the pallet, focuses specifically on actual culinary specialists, and exists to make food more delicious and chefs more dedicated."

"What does a food critic do?" Schwoz wondered.

"They go wherever they can and just rate food! Usually, it just makes people decide whether or not to try some chain or unfortunate Mom and Pop shop!"

Henry whispered to Schwoz, "Just pretend you hear the difference."

"It's like comparing apples to pomegranates!" Jasper fussed.

"Hey. I like apples," Henry said.

"Everybody likes apples," Schwoz added. The three of them all were talking at the same time when Jasper noticed the door open on the screen. "Somebody's coming in, I'd better get back upstairs…"

But, Henry had seen the screen too. He saw Charlotte! "Char!" He cheered and rushed to the elevator.

"So… do people think that pomegranates are better than apples?" Schwoz asked Jasper, who simply stared straight ahead in silent frustration.

Charlotte was about to get onto the elevator, but it opened and Henry leaped out with a, "Char!"

"Hen!-" He swept her up into a tight hug, kissed her, spun her around, practically pushed her against the wall, holding her closely as she cheerfully laughed. She hadn't been expecting such a welcome, seeing as how they hadn't spoken much over the past several weeks, with the exception of a few replies to posts on social media. They both heard someone clear his throat and Charlotte then cleared hers too as Henry just noticed the guy who was standing in close proximity to them and set her down to stand on her own feet.

"Oh, sorry, Dude. Nobody's supposed to be back here. I'll be with you in just a moment."

Charlotte added on, slightly frustrated, through her smiling teeth, "I asked you to wait in the store." He rolled his eyes, turned around and went back into the store. "Pardon my friend. Got curious, I guess," she said and shook her head.

"Isn't that the Prince Abu Dabi Dude?" Henry asked, pointing his thumb in his direction.

"Prince Akuchi, Henry, and yes."

"Whoa… Why is he here with you? Are you two…?"

"What? No! I told you, I don't like him _like that._ He's tagging along to see Swellview and hoping to spot some Captain Man and Kid Danger action."

"So… He followed you from another continent because you're _not_ involved?"

She clasped her hands together and said, "He is here, where I am from, because he can literally go anywhere in the world that he wants to go and he wanted to come here. I've made it abundantly clear that I have no interest in him, but I also can't control whether or not he comes through my hometown. In the meantime, why burn a bridge to what could potentially be a great connection for me at some point?" Henry pouted. "I was hoping to surprise you and that you'd just be happy to see me and for a few seconds, that happened and I was glad. Now, I guess we're back to whatever this is that we did for half the summer."

"We're… There's a Prince in Junk N' Stuff, Charlotte!"

"I didn't _make him_ come with me!"

"Is everything alright back there?" The prince asked.

"Yes!" Charlotte and Henry both snapped, then began whispering, Charlotte first, "I was 100% willing to put you first and foremost and not even looking at anybody else, and you told me that you started dating. That was hard for me. Sorry that I can't be as lackadaisical about your exploits as whatever girls you're used to, but I felt I was well within my rights to shift my focus off of you and back to business. You weren't keeping all of your extra focus on me!"

"Excuse me? I wasn't? Why do you think that I started dating? I was lonely, and the only times that I was able to see or talk to you was when you could squeeze me into your busy day. A lot of the communication was one way. Recordings? I could see your social posts. It's not like it was all work and no play. But, on my end it was all work and then working on not bugging Charlotte over and over, so I wouldn't seem like a clingy, possessive dudebro."

"I don't recall you really expressing these concerns to me, Henry. All I remember is us discussing how we felt and what we planned to do and agreeing to tell each other when we met someone _worth_ something. You told me that you were dating! I figured it was only a matter of time, and yes - I did what could be considered a little cowardly and I called it quits. I didn't want to watch my heart break in real time."

"Why would I break your heart, Char?"

"It was already breaking the moment you told me that you started dating!" She said it a little louder than she planned and the Prince peeked in.

"Dude, please! Wait in the store," Henry advised.

"Charlotte, you seem to have some things to work out here, I am going to explore your city and contact you later," he said.

She waved a hand and waited until they heard the front door chime before speaking again. "I'm not as used to dealing with feelings and relationships and bodily connections as you. I'm maybe not as mature. I don't mind admitting my flaws. But, I don't feel like I did anything wrong, and if I did, I thought it best, at the time."

Henry tapped his foot. "Can… We pretend that it didn't happen?"

"What, like pretend that we didn't have an argument that led us to a weeks long rift in which we both agonized at the thought of each other with somebody else? Like… How long do you think we could sustain ourselves on something like that, Henry?" The elevator opened again and it was Jasper, who now lifted Charlotte into a hug and began to excitedly go on about how he had read that Prince Akuchi was in town and he wanted to meet him and to hear all about the rest of her trip that she hadn't had the chance to speak to him about since the last time that they spoke.

The three all headed into the store and chatted, amicably, Henry and Charlotte both not knowing whether the other was ignoring or mulling over the answer to the last thing that she asked before Jasper came. Both of them mulling it over… It didn't look good for them.

…

 _Hi, NovaTerra! This review is a lot! I might not address everything, but since it seems there was a lot of thought put into this, I wanted to at least respond and since I'm not sure if others are feeling like you're feeling, I figured, why not here?_

 _For story length - I only planned on this being a short and sweet 14-16 chapter fic, but most of what I had outlined hasn't even happened yet, so maybe it might wind up being a monster. I don't mind writing it for a while. It gives me a nice little getaway from work whenever I have down times._

 _As far as not being descriptive of the science, I don't really recall the show doing this much either, but whether or not they did, I can assure you - you won't get any science specifics here. If that's one of your pet peeves, I can't help you out. I'm not a scientist and the story is about a connection between two people, so I want to focus more on that area. There's an episode where Schwoz says, "I could explain it to you, but Charlotte is the only one smart enough to understand the science," so I definitely don't feel obligated to research science for the purposes of this story. Sorry about that, nonetheless._

 _I personally don't feel like Charlotte is OOC, but then again, I'm writing it, so I probably wouldn't notice it. She's older now, so a lot of the steamrolling that happens to her on the show isn't happening to her, here. I often don't like the things that she puts up with and now that she doesn't have to, she won't._

 _I'm not sure why whenever a black, female character is written to stand up for herself, she's automatically seen as cruel. I believe that we get used to seeing them treated a certain way and internalize that to be the norm and in turn normalize black women characters as moral or good only whenever they are able to be used up by those surrounding them._

 _I don't know where in this story she was depicted or described as a user or cruel. I can see where she might be seen as "cold," because she isn't letting anyone get in her way of the goals that she has set, but as far as her using people - I didn't write that._

 _As soon as she found out that Henry wanted to have a relationship and a family someday, she pounced on doing something about it, selflessly. Whenever she learned Max was in danger, she couldn't focus on anything else until she found out that he was safe, so I'm not sure what else she can do to show she is caring. The only impulsive thing that she's done so far was with Henry, so I don't see where the clash is, either. It took her months to get involved with Max. She doesn't rush into things. She takes care of herself. Taking care of yourself is not cruel. It's smart. Being realistic is not cruel, to me._

 _Henry took the first step with Charlotte and she outlined her realistic take on where it could go, which he agreed to and they started it up. She's going to continue to move at this rate. I have no intentions of development for her. She's a complete person. Charlotte_ already _loves him. She feels conflicted about not being near him, even though she has opportunities that nobody in their right mind would give up for some dude._

 _Henry being overwhelmingly mediocre/having no talents comes straight out of the show. Before he became a sidekick, he didn't have anything that he was really good at and they haven't showed us anything else that he is good at yet. It's not so much that he isn't smart, as it is that he's never had to take other considerations since becoming Kid Danger. Now, I definitely have some development to try to show in Henry, because canonically, he's like a bowl of dry cereal. Character development has been bottom priority in this show, for most of its run._

 _Many American kids who were sheltered through life who went out into the world by themselves and wanted to live out their best dreams. A few grownup sleepovers and casual encounters here is nothing for this age group, and she's only had a couple, at this point. From 18-22 American kids are generally much more wild than this. These are pretty responsible sexually aware people in comparison to many average American citizens in their age range._

 _Hopefully, this was helpful, put some things into perspective, etc. My general reading rule is to not expect more out of the person who writes free stories than the people who got paid to do it. Henry Danger is a delight for me, even at my age, but I've never found the writing to be great, consistent, well-thought out, realistic, or even well-done, at times. Of course, I'm going to try to do my best to tell a cohesive story, but I am doing it for fun and still trying to keep to things as were outlined in the show. It very well may be that my writing style doesn't work for you, and that is fine. None of us have to be here. I appreciate that you took the time to read and wish you well on your reading journeys._


	14. Truth Bombs

_A/N: I did NOT expect so many people to be surprised to find that the most frequently written villainess on the show was the one that I used for this story. Lol. I can even only think of 4 that have ever been on the show and Nurse Cohort is the only one that I recall being there multiple times. I even used a similar exchange between her and Captain Man from the show._

I've _been sick AF, so I'm just now able to actually edit this chapter that's been chilling in my docs. I'll be glad when flu season over. These kids, at the shelter I work at, just pass the germs back and forward, mutate them and give them to me. Sigh._

Also _, I'm thinking in the next couple of chapters I may have a time jump or two. This story is taking way longer than I intended to take on it and the new episodes of the show have me in a different mood that I can't quite describe yet. Something along the lines of I kinda wanna see where they're going before I move forward here, yet I also wanna finish before something happens in canon that makes me feel like finishing this is pointless._

If _y'all have any long messages to send me, the best chance for me to read and respond is to send it to my Tumblr blog mysamcedesmadness or even the main, I guess (neshatriumphs), because THIS site it's BS to try to message from the app/my phone, and that's what I'm generally on. The truncated email only shows me the first part of the message, then when I try to go into the link, it never lets me see the thing once I get to the site. I can only see them when I get on the laptop. I haven't touched my laptop for more than a few minutes in weeks._

 **Truth Bombs**

Throughout Autumn, things between Henry and Charlotte seemed back to normal. They both couldn't imagine that things ever would be, but so long as it seemed so, maybe it was headed in the right direction. Jasper noticed the shift, but also couldn't point out what was wrong, so he presumed that he was imagining things.

Henry and Charlotte bickered the way that they always had - innocently and inconsequential, despite his parents calling their friendly debates "lovers' quarrels," and his father leaving a box of condoms on his nightstand whenever she spent the night.

They returned to the old level of affectionate, with friendly hugs and knowing just when a fist bump was necessary. She spent visiting nights at the Hart house when she came into town and left with a new pair of pajamas each time, and took half the condoms, just in case. (She never made time to use them).

Fall semester, they were both in school, but at least back to closer time zones. She sent him to her parents' house to gather any notes that he might need for his classes, since she had boxes full in her old closet. He'd also help with the upkeep, because even though the Pages were rarely at home, sometimes they needed the house dusted, and the yard rarely got the attention it deserved, with Charlotte gone.

He'd rake their leaves up and do a little pruning here and there, voluntarily. Sometimes, he'd have to go through and make sure they didn't accidentally leave perishables in the fridge during a business trip. He did this up until the point that Mr. Page asked him if he had some type of compulsions. Then, he realized it was really weird to just be doing housework at somebody else's house.

Charlotte laughed when Henry reported that as he left the house, he heard her father say, "I thought Jasper was her weird friend."

"Joke's on him. ALL my friends are weird," she commented. "Speaking of… I have a plus one to bring with me to a wedding that I'm going to be in. You wanna come with?"

"Do I have to like dress up? I don't think I have wedding clothes."

"Well… I'm gonna be dressed up, because I'm in the wedding, but I don't think that the guest attire is formal. At least, my brain can't imagine it."

"I'll be glad to help."

"Cool. And just to let you know, it's in March, and it is Bysh's wedding…" she heard the clatter and scatter of him dropping his phone and trying not to lose control of it completely. He eventually caught it after swiftly tossing it about several times. "Henry?" The next thing she heard was a roar of laughter. "Henry!" Then, she heard him wind down from laughing and try to catch his breath. "Henry."

"Yeah. I'm here. Woooo. I thought you said it was Bysh's wedding. As in Byshelle. As in Bilsky."

"Soooo… Bysh is getting married in March to a National Wrestling champ and she's asked me to be her maid of honor."

Henry was silent. After a while he repeated, "Bysh Bilsky???"

"Yes!"

"Okay. I mean… I guess that's cool. A wrestler though?"

"They look cute together. Well… they look like a good match for each other. Guess who Mitch is bringing?" Before Henry could guess, she told, "Bianca!"

"Why would she go out with him a _second_ time? Like... on purpose?"

"Maybe he's grown up? None of us are kids anymore. I mean, hello.. Bysh is getting married."

"That's wild."

"Right? She's too young."

"She's a little older than us, though."

"I reserve the right to believe that if you aren't old enough to drink, you aren't old enough to sign on to spend forever with a person. I think that at least one should be 22 before even getting _engaged_! And there are a lot of steps between getting engaged and getting married. Bysh and this guy have only known each other for a few months. What do you really know about a person in that timeframe?"

"I have no idea, but he's good to her, I suspect. She's got a huge brother and she's no little damsel herself."

"He's bigger and stronger than her and Mitch, but he does seem to be good to her. I don't know, because I've only spoken to him once. I'm gonna go to the Bilskys when I visit for winter break, so I'll have a little more time to size him up."

"I wonder what the Bilskys home is like. I mean… it spawned two utter delinquents."

"Bysh isn't that bad. She's just a girl who spent a lot of time wanting love. I don't know what to say about Mitch. He's still a menace, to this day. But, if you're super curious, you can come there with me too."

Henry's Whiz Watch sounded and he rolled his eyes and answered, "Yeah, Ray. What's up?"

"Henry! We've got an emergency at the Man Cave. Whatever you're doing, cut it short."

"What's the emergency?"

"Get here!"

Henry got up, still on the phone with Charlotte. "I'm so serious - if I get there and he wants help waxing his back or something, I'm definitely quitting my job."

"This sounds very specific and _must_ have a backstory to it," she said, chuckling as she logged into the control center in her apartment. "But, I'm sure you'll tell me. In the meantime, it looks like you two have a robbery in progress and another being called in… And… Another being called in. Dude, what the butt?" Charlotte opened up the Captain Man line and noticed that the calls were all from within the same few blocks. "At least you won't have to go far…"

Jasper had been saving up to try to move out of his parents' house. He wasn't super great at saving up, but his incentive was pretty great, as the older he got, the more into dating and finding himself, and the longer he worked for Captain Man, the more important his privacy became and the Dunlops didn't really interfere with his business, but they didn't allow a lot in their homes, either.

Piper had been telling Henry that he and Jasper should get a place together and save themselves some money. But, now that Henry was in college and paying for it himself, afraid to take out any loans, well… getting a place wasn't really in his plan for the moment.

Henry was trying to make sure that he did things around the house to try to feel more productive. He even offered to cook for Thanksgiving. So, this Thanksgiving, he was going to be in charge of the event. He had gotten some suggestions from Jasper and Charlotte of what he should prepare, considering that they would both definitely at least stop by if not have dinner with his family, along with Hart classics that he had to ask his mother for recipes for. Jasper shared an app with him that he could plug the recipes and the menu into and the app told him exactly when to do prepping, preheating and cooking. This was going to be SUCH a great holiday! Plus, he had a surprise for Charlotte.

Now… he wasn't sure if he should be giving her gifts, because after her summer trip, they never discussed everything that had happened between them. But, he also had been really enjoying rediscovering their friendship after the fact and if they were never going to be… he at least wanted to be a good friend this time around. Plus, it was Thanksgiving and he was thankful for his best friend. A few months before, he was sure that he'd lost her.

So, whenever she said that she might not get into town until Thanksgiving night, he was a little disappointed and, when she told him that she wanted to "check in with Max," because it was his first Thanksgiving without Phoebe; he remembered that she had a significant ex, meanwhile the two of them were always just friends, even though they'd been physically intimate.

Then again, when she was in town by Thanksgiving afternoon, he was stoked. Siren had sent Jake out a few times to get some things that Henry needed and when Charlotte showed up, she was seated on the couch reading while Henry was slaving in the kitchen. "Hi, Charlotte! I thought that you wouldn't be able to make it today!"

Charlotte nodded, and confessed, "So did my parents. They made other arrangements, so I won't see them until tomorrow…"

"Well, I'm sure Henry counted you when he was making serving sizes, just in case. Henry!" Siren called.

Henry was concentrating pretty hard on glazing the ham, but he looked up and had to remind himself not to jet to Char and collect her like a lover. "Char! Hey, thought you'd still be at the Thundermans…"

She shrugged her shoulders, "My plans changed. I'm gonna go throw my things down in your room."

"Sure," he said with a smile, taking off his apron and gloves as she went upstairs.

A moment later when he followed her up, Siren smiled to herself and got on the phone, "Honey, Charlotte's stopped in earlier than expected. Pick Henry up some protection, just in case he's out."

Charlotte was studying a pair of pajamas folded on Henry's bed when he came in to give her a proper hug as a greeting. "Hey… what are THESE? They're nice!"

"Those are top quality pajamas. Microfleece, hooded, adjustable straps, and pockets, with footies."

"Omigosh. You're sleeping in style, huh? These feel super cozy." She hugged them to herself.

"They're all yours," he said.

"I'm not gonna steal your nice new jammies, Hen. I have some discipline."

"No, I got them specifically for your thievery. They're literally yours."

She smiled brightly, pleasantly surprised and obviously impressed by the gesture. Henry blushed, noticing that he'd successfully done this thing for her. "Wait… these are your size, though."

"You wear my size pajamas."

"I'm significantly smaller than you."

"Yeah, but every pair of pajamas that you have is in my size, because you don't buy yourself pajamas." She just laughed at the accuracy. She could still wear things she had from middle school, so she really didn't purchase pajamas. In fact, if it weren't for the ones she took from Henry (which she wore lounging around her apartment more than she slept in), her night clothes were boy shorts and tank tops.

"Thank you, Henry. I can't wait to wear these out of here." She gave him a hug and stared at him a while, knowing she shouldn't move in for a kiss. They'd been doing too well to murky the waters again… Siren knocked on the door and Charlotte jumped.

Henry opened the door and his mother was smiling, "Hey, one of your phone alarms is going off." He dashed passed her as Charlotte folded the pajamas back up and set them down.

Thanksgiving evening, Henry took a shower and got changed, with Charlotte in the bedroom, having already gotten ready for the day and he wondered, "Should I put on a tie?"

"A tie?"

"I made Thanksgiving. That's like a special occasion, right?" He wondered.

"Do… you even own a tie?" She asked.

"I think so…" he went into the closet and she followed, simply because she wanted to see if there really was a tie in there. Henry's closet was painfully neat. She couldn't believe how organized everything was, but then again, his room was always pretty neat and he was a tidy person in general, so she wasn't sure why that surprised her. "Here we go," he said and pulled down a box, and yes, there was a tie in it. "Okay. So, now, I guess I search online to see how this goes."

"I can help," she said. "Whenever my uncle Roscoe lived with us, he got me to help him to put his ties on so that he could pretend he had been searching for a job." Henry chuckled and let her help him. "There. Handsome."

At dinner, Henry picked at Charlotte a few times. She loved the food so much that more than once, she tried to eat too fast and spilled some on her face. He laughed and teased, "Hey, you ever eat before? Bit of advice, the food goes into your mouth." She snickered and meat juice ran down her chin, which Henry reached out and wiped away with his thumb and sucked off before he realized that Jasper was watching. He tried to play it off and hand Charlotte a cloth napkin. Jasper wore a proud, deep smirk.

After dinner, Jasper helped Henry to clear everything away and clean up. Piper left the house, Siren and Jake retired for the night, and Charlotte went to get washed up and ready for bed. "So… Couldn't help but to notice that chemistry between you and Charlotte…"

"Don't start, Jasp."

"I can't stop, now. You put your finger on her face, then put said finger in your mouth! And. She. LET. You! This is monumental! She not only allowed you into her facial space, but the look of utter disgust when germ exchanges she disapproves of was not there!"

"She really liked the food," Henry said, innocently.

"Yeah, well what's your excuse for touching her face? Her mouth, to boot?"

"Gravy," Henry shifted nervously.

"Yeah, I'll bet you've served her some of your gravy!"

Henry cringed, "Crass." But, then he also thought about the last time he did serve her some gravy. Good God, had it really been eight months since he touched her? It had only been five since the last time he saw her over their steamy screen dates, and that still felt like a lifetime. It had been three months since the last time they kissed, and the last time they even so much as mentioned their relationship…

While Henry was agonizing over these numbers, Jasper had walked off. Henry super sped through the rest of cleaning up the kitchen and went to find Jasper and Charlotte.

"Then he told me that he's not trying to pressure me, but that he doesn't have to waste his time trying to figure out if I'm down…" he heard Jasper saying.

"What are you two talking about?" Henry wondered. Charlotte was in her new pajama top and a pair of boy shorts, working on twisting her hair for the next day. Jasper had one of those overnight tooth strips on and was rolling his hair into rollers. "And what are you doing?"

"Gonna bring back my curls. Got a post Thanksgiving date tomorrow."

"Tell him with whom," Charlotte said, smiling.

Jasper blushed and said, "Just this guy that I'm pretty confused about."

"Jasper is exploring his own truth." Charlotte said. "His bravery is giving me courage to be less afraid of my own emotions. Thanks for the inspo, Jasper."

Henry folded his arms and nodded his head, "So… you like dudes?"

"Sometimes. I mean… do you not?" Jasper asked, defensively.

"Never really thought about it, so I guess not. I figure that we all just want people to connect with and we meet them and know after that happens. I won't say that it's impossible, but I haven't made that kind of connection with a dude before."

"Henry, you rarely make connections to anyone," Jasper said, then expounded to Charlotte, "His dates keep asking me why he's so distant. What am I supposed to do, lie to the poor girls? I tell them, it's not him. It's you. You're not the one."

"I'm sure they appreciate your honesty," Charlotte said, sarcastically.

"Not one bit," Jasper told her. "My turn in the shower!" He grabbed his bag and went to the bathroom.

Henry grabbed Charlotte's pajama bottoms and set them aside to sit next to her on the bed. "Need any help?"

"I need a personal hair specialist every night. Whenever I'm rich, I'm definitely investing in one." He moved to sit behind her, his legs straddled around her smaller frame and she froze.

"I think I've now seen you do this enough to get it."

"Honestly, I'm not super worried about the curl pattern for a day, if it isn't perfect."

"Okay." He was quicker than her, obviously, with his power, but he made sure to do it as close to what she was doing as he could, and he finished things up within a few minutes. "I do believe that I nailed it, Miss Page." After he said that he he winced in confusion. Why on Earth did he call her that?

She picked up the mirror to inspect it and nodded her head, "This is a dang good job, Mr. Hart. Maybe I'll hire you someday."

"Does it pay a lot? Because, you know? Trying to get an apartment and stuff…" She turned her head to look at him. "It was a joke."

"Oh!" She laughed. "I thought you were seriously thinking about leaving the house. I was gonna offer you a loan."

He scoffed, but then wondered, "Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah. I've got savings. My parents pay for most of my necessities on my academic merit and I still make money from Ray and from other work, online. If you do think you need a little help, that's what friends are for." Henry was looking into her eyes, his hands were on her skin, stroking on her sides, and she slightly fluttered her eyelashes as her eyes traveled to his lips. She missed those lips. He watched her lean towards him, but he was frozen in place.

By the time Jasper came back in, Henry dashed away from her. That was close. He was pretty sure that she was about to kiss him, and he knew that he would let her. He would want her to. He would return it. They didn't need to kiss. They didn't need to confuse themselves or each other with affection that neither seemed ready to realistically discuss.

While Henry was in the shower, Jasper and Charlotte settled in the bed, looking at the ceiling and talking with the space in the middle reserved for Henry. He was the only one neutral enough to sleep in the middle. Jasper sweated a lot and Charlotte was a wild sleeper. Henry could sleep through practically anything and didn't care about being sweat on or possibly even elbowed in the ribs… both things that had happened from sleeping near the two of them.

"You love Henry?"

"Everybody loves Henry," Charlotte deflected.

"Yeah, but I thought I saw something else there today and when I thought about it more, I realized that I'd seen it before. So many instances since you and Max broke up. Speaking of, what happened today?"

"He messaged me that he was accepting a mission to avoid the holidays with his family. I sent them a fruit basket, instead of visiting."

"He looks really good with that beard."

"Right? I'm not even big on facial hair, but that beard could get me in trouble."

"Henry trouble?" Jasper asked, smiling. She turned to face the opposite direction. "You know, I think that the reason he can't date other girls isn't because of Kid Danger, like he wants people to believe. It's because he already found his perfect girl and he compares everybody to her, whether or not he means to."

"We're still young. He's got plenty of time to figure out how to maintain healthy adult relationships."

"He'd be able to maintain it if it was with you."

"No, he wouldn't."

"Yes he would! You just have to give him a chance!"

"I tried to!" She blurted.

Jasper shot up in the bed, "WHAT???"

She sat up too and faced him, "We tried for a little while to have a casual, flow buddy arrangement. It went okay. We let it travel to a long distance thing and then one day, he just started dating." She shook her head, "He said he needed a distraction and I realized that I had a distraction. Him. He was my distraction from the things I needed to do. Henry won't work with anybody, Jasper. Not right now. Maybe after he figures out what he wants out of life. Until then, everything will be a distraction for him."

"You two casualed???" Jasper said, looking about ready to burst. "Did it happen in this bed?"

Henry came back in, wearing Char's pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. "These are amazing… what's going on in here?"

"I told Jasper about us. Goodnight." She rolled over and laid down.

Henry climbed into bed between them and said, "I wanted to tell you from the start. Somebody insisted that you couldn't handle it." He pointed a thumb at Charlotte.

"He's doing exactly what I was trying to avoid. Might as well break his poor love fool's heart."

"Trust me, all you've done is confirmed that I've been right all along," Jasper said. "It didn't work out because neither of you had good counsel! You needed my help!" Henry and Charlotte looked at each other, then fell onto each other's shoulders, cackling. "I see how it is. Belly shirts, sweaty sleeping Jasper can't possibly have good romantic advice!"

Henry tried to catch his breath as he sat up, "No. It's not THAT. It's.. You realize that you're Jasper, right? We don't get advice from you on… social situations."

"And that's your loss!" Jasper fussed. "I'm the only one in the room with a fulfilling love life that I'm confident about." Charlotte winced. That was sad… but absolutely true. "Charlotte needed me to tell her not to insist to keep things casual, because I would have known that Henry couldn't do that, not with you, Charlotte. I would have told you to tell him to just SEE where it goes instead of trying to quantify it as casual. It would have still been casual, but it would have had the room to become whatever was happening that scared you two off." Charlotte opened her mouth,but Jasper shushed her and continued, "Henry needed me to tell him DON'T WORRY ABOUT what she's doing when you aren't together. She's not that much of a selfish jerk. She'd at least be honest if she thought you needed to move on. And to talk him out of dating! Dating has been TERRIBLE for him and all he wanted was to hang out with you!!" He shook his head and though he looked funny with a head full of rollers and a belly shirt, neither Henry or Charlotte was in the mood to laugh right now. "Sleep on that!" Jasper said and laid down facing the opposite direction of his friends.

Charlotte and Henry glanced at each other, then she faced her side of the bed, too, away from the boys and Henry laid with his hands under his head, to make a little more room for them and stared at the ceiling for hours, through Charlotte's weird semi-panic dreams and Jasper's almost constant mouth noises. Both of them eventually ended up cuddled up against Henry. It wasn't until some time after they were that he actually finally fell to sleep.


	15. Black Friday Family Fun

_Oddly enough, I was listening to You're Gonna Need Me by Dionne Warwick when writing this chapter and it honestly doesn't even really fit, except for MAYBE the chorus. I also was listening to I Want Your Love by Chic. Neither of those are on the Family Danger playlist, but that's where I was for this chapter._

 _Insanity keeps things fun - hey love! I meant to message you, but I haven't been at my best. I don't wanna blame work, but it's been a hard place for a bit. :( Anywho - Henry is currently settling for a Business degree. A lot of American college students do this whenever they aren't sure what they want to do, not that everyone with a Business degree "settled," but that and General Studies has been the go to (at least for the part of Texas I grew up in) whenever folk weren't sure what they wanted to do. Also, I partially answered your WHY MUST THEY BE SO STUPID ABOUT FEELINGS in this chapter. So, thank you for that question, because I was able to actually just crank out some things based simply on answering it._

 **Black Friday Family Fun**

Whenever Jasper woke up, Charlotte was laying on top of Henry, snuggled hard against him with her face buried in his neck and her arms rested on his pillow, but her hands entangled in his hair. He had both of his hands buried in the back of her boy shorts, comfortably cupping her buttocks and his face against her hair.

Jasper fought off the squee that wanted to come out of his mouth and tried to rush to his phone to get a photo of this without disturbing it. What he did instead was bumble around with the phone, then fall out of the bed, pulling the covers down with him and making Charlotte jump up out of her sleep, panicked. She looked around and asked, "Did you hear that?"

Henry gently pulled her back to himself and mumbled, "That was probably just Jasper. He said he was leaving early," and cradled her for a moment before returning his hands to where they were before and going back to sleep.

She sat there for a moment and whispered, "Jasper?" He was hiding on the side of the bed and ignored her. She snuggled against Henry, muttering, "I'm cold…" He was still sleep, but he'd heard her and turned over to where he was wrapped around her. When her Henry was comfortably settled against her, she too fell back to sleep. Jasper finally had his phone ready and went to snap the photo… They were snuggled together, but it wasn't as scandalous as Henry's hands being kept warm by Char's little buttcheeks. He shrugged his shoulders and snapped it anyway. Henry's eyes flew open, he jumped up, and snatched the phone from him to delete that, with Charlotte still asleep and cradled to him, quick enough to accomplish it, but careful not to wake her again. "What are you doing?" He hiss whispered at Jasper.

"It was just for my personal collection!" Jasper whispered back.

"Charlotte would kill us!" Henry fussed, handing him his phone back.

"Why _us?_ I'm the one who snapped the photo."

"Because I'm the one that pulled her on top of me so I could sleep better with her against me."

"Awwwww!" Jasper said, louder than expected and Charlotte jumped up again. Jasper hesitated, then dropped to hit the floor and hide again.

She stared at the spot he had been standing and wondered, "What is going on?"

Henry sighed and laid her back down, this time facing her away from Jasper and spooning around her. "Jasper was just leaving, but noisily, for some reason." She let out a frustrated groan as she trembled, still cold. "I'll go get you a blanket." Jasper tried to hand him the blanket from the bed that he had accidentally pulled down. "Isn't that all sweaty, Dude?" Henry asked. Jasper looked at it, then dropped it to the floor. Henry shook his head and went for the linen closet.

"You were trying to get photos of Henry and I in compromising positions, weren't you?"

"For my personal collection!" Jasper insisted. He left shortly after Henry came back with a clean blanket.

Charlotte couldn't go back to sleep, even with Henry wrapped around her, _especially_ with Henry wrapped around her. She turned to face him and noticed that he wasn't asleep either. He was probably distracted by being awake and this close to her, like she was with him. "I guess I should get ready to head home."

"No… Let's just cuddle for a while longer. I don't feel like getting out of bed," Henry complained. She rolled her eyes. "I don't feel like driving you to your parents' yet. Sleepin' next to Jasper is a lot more disruptive than it used to be. I woke up like fourteen times."

"That was probably because I'm here."

He strummed his thumbs against her sides, "I liked you being here."

"Well, Jasper being here stopped me from doing anything that we'd both regret… And now, he isn't here. Maybe, I should get up, too. While we're still…" Henry pulled her closer and kissed her ear. "Sooo… You go the exact opposite direction?"

"I thought that you were telling me that you wanted me, and the only thing that was stopping you was Jasper being here."

"I was, but I was also pointing out that it would be us making the same mistakes.."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I thought a lot about what Jasper said. He was right. You and me can be good. You overthink it and I don't think enough. It doesn't work as well in a relationship as it did in our group projects for school. But, think of us as an experiment.

We're in a trial and error phase.. Don't you try to start over when it seems like you've really messed up and you try something different, because you want the experiment to be a success? I just… want you to want _us_ to be a success."

"So that we can both be in much more pain when it's time for me to start a career and you can't leave Swellview, because you protect it? I feel like I shouldn't have to keep reminding you of how _that's_ our certain future."

"Okay. Okay, maybe." He sighed and laid flat on his back. "I guess, I never care about all of that when you're within my reach and I just want you so bad. Another example of me not thinking it through, I guess."

"Hey… I've got the same weakness, Hen. Whenever I see you," she just laughed at herself. "I can't think of anything that makes me weaker than you do." Henry took a deep breath. Charlotte focused hard on her fingernails and Henry reflexively reached for her wrist to ask her if she was okay. The moment his fingers touched her skin, she was on top of him, kissing his neck and reaching for his pajamas.

.

Whenever Charlotte and Henry came downstairs with her luggage, to bring her to her parents' house, they heard them laughing and chatting with Henry's parents. Charlotte smiled, surprised, but confused and cheered, "Mom, Dad… What are you doing here?"

"We got in early and decided to surprise you by picking you up! But, when we got here, well, you and your friend seemed preoccupied," Mrs. Page answered. She gave Henry a tight smile and finished up with, "So, the Harts were gracious enough to prepare a Black Friday Brunch with Henry's delicious Thanksgiving leftovers. Easily the best mini turkey frittata I've ever had." She and Siren laughed.

Mr. Page offered, "Your mother also really likes Siren's mimosas."

"Mom's mimosas are BOSS!" Henry said. "Well, I'll put your luggage in their car," he told Charlotte. But, she was still hung up on the most important part of this conversation: _you and your friend seemed preoccupied…_ Had they _heard_ her and Henry? She felt hot and like she might pass out. Her parents knew that she was no saint, but she liked to tell them things _before_ they found out and never really knowing what to think of her and Hen… She neglected telling them about him, in this way.

"Charlotte, grab a seat. I'm sure you've worked up an appetite!" Siren said. Charlotte knew that she was a deeper, purplish brown from how much she knew she was blushing.

Jake smiled uncomfortably and reached for the platter, "Frittata, Charlotte?"

"No, thanks." She sat down in between her parents and pointed to the picture, "But, can I have one of those mimosas?"

"Absolutely!" Siren cheered. She was actually more asking her mother than Siren. She didn't know if her mom wanted her to have a sip of something with champagne in it.

Mrs. Page poured herself one, then Charlotte. "So, Charlotte, Jake and Siren tell us that you and Henry frequently spend these types of nights together. Why didn't you tell us this about him when he was at the house doing chores? We thought that he had some form of OCD and that when he entered the space, he couldn't help himself."

" _I_ told you that there was no way a boy was doing that much work for a girl that he wasn't…" Her father started, but the woman threw him a look and he simply shrugged. "He pruned our trees and got weeds out of our flowers. I wouldn't do that for a friend, unless they were in a coma, much less their parents who I only casually know!"

Charlotte said, "Henry and I are just friends…" Jake and Siren looked at each other and cackled to the sky. Siren held her chest and shook her head, apologetically. "I mean… Yeah, things have happened between us, but we're still best friends. That's what we call each other, and that's you know, where we are, still."

"Well, your father better not have any best friends," Mrs. Page said.

He confirmed, "I don't even currently have any mediocre friends, so we're good."

Henry came back inside, flopped down across from Charlotte and her parents, grabbed a frittata and threw the muffin sized thing in his mouth, whole. Everybody got quiet, for a moment, but he saw that Charlotte looked uncomfortable. "You okay, Char?" She looked at him like a deer caught in headlights, wondering why he had to use _that_ voice with her at a time like this? "Babe, what is it?" He asked.

Jake said, "Charlotte was just telling us how the two of you are just friends." He and Siren laughed again, this time snickering into each other.

Henry winced. He'd just rationalized to himself that since all the parents seemed to now know that at the very least they were sharing their bed, he could relax a little on the whole just friends angle. Apparently, he and Charlotte weren't on the same page, again. He chuckled to himself, _Page,_ and nodded, "Well, that's true…"

"So, all of the missing condoms your parents notice every time she comes over are for what?" Mr. Page asked.

"What?" Charlotte was floored.

Henry shook his head, "Oh, we don't use those. Charlotte takes half, because my dad insists on supplying them. She usually winds up handing out to friends at campus parties and stuff. My parents think that we use them, because they presume."

"You don't use them?" Mrs. Page asked.

"He meant that we don't do _that…_ What you're suggesting.." Charlotte interjected.

"You did _that_ today! We came to the door to knock and decided against it because _that_ was in progress!" Mrs. Page retorted.

"Okay, we were, today and we have, before… But, it isn't like I come over and _that_ happens all of the time. It actually hasn't happened nearly as much as you would think considering how long we've been feeling… This is… Not brunch appropriate conversation…" Charlotte poured another mimosa and Henry grabbed another frittata, popped it in and grabbed the whole platter to set on his lap. He had definitely worked up an appetite.

"So, you _do_ use the supplies that Mr. Hart so generously gives you, when needed?" Mrs. Page was trying to clarify. Technically, Charlotte had really great birth control and Henry used protection with everyone _else_ he had ever been with, so… they actually didn't ever even reach for the condoms. They didn't need them, and she knew it. But, saying that to her mother? That was impossible. Yet, lying to her was also not going to work, because the woman would spot it right away. She just sat there, still.

"When needed? Absolutely, Mrs. Page." Henry said. He smoothed over her worries, but Charlotte's was only intensified. Henry was safe. She knew that. And her BC was fool proof. It would take an act of God to break through the modified version of her implant, which she and Max worked on whenever they were together. But, just the thought of her mother knowing that she might take a risk (granted, Char knew that there wasn't a risk), made her so awkward. What was she going to do? Tell her mother that she was a friend of numerous supers and had found an invincible birth control method? It was true, but she couldn't _say_ that. To make matters worse, her parents had apparently invited Henry's family over for their Black Friday Family evening.

Now that they "know that this may be our family someday," they wanted to invest more time into the people who they recently found out hosted Charlotte pretty much every time that they were away for different business ventures and conventions.

Mrs. Page was grateful that Charlotte hadn't spent as much time alone as she initially thought, but embarrassed that she wasn't aware just how much time her daughter spent with these people. Everyone in the house knew Charlotte as well as she and her husband did and _better_ than even her Uncle Roscoe did. Henry had been her best friend, not just a boy that she knew, and now, he was much more than that, despite what Charlotte was saying. They'd checked back with the couple every half hour to see if it was safe to knock, but gave up after 2 hours and it was at least another hour before the two surfaced. They knew for a fact that at least 2 of the 3 hours that they were reacquainting themselves with the Harts that their children were doing _that._

Anyway, they hadn't sat down with them like this probably since the kids were in 8th grade, before then when they met in 5th. The mothers contacted each other whenever affirming parties and such for years, but once Charlotte showed independence and responsibility, her parents trusted her to simply tell them wherever she went and she usually did (albeit vaguely).

She always told them when she was headed to Junk N Stuff, Henry's, Jasper's, and any social event. Of course, she had to keep missions secret, so she made up excuses for why she traveled like school trips and competitions or something. All of her excuses were via text or emails, so they couldn't hear the dishonesty in her voice, and sometimes she or Schwoz created an official document, so that it wouldn't always be her word and potentially make them suspicious.

Mr. Page was a little bit embarrassed to admit that he always thought that the few friends that she did have were hanging out with her to be nice. It wasn't that he didn't think that his little girl could have real friends… He just always saw her as a more goals oriented child than a social one. The conversations that she had about her friends and about things going on in her life always read like reports of experiences, rather than excitement about memories made. He… Thought that Charlotte was a little bit cold, especially for a kid. But, he didn't want her to have a complex, so he never so much as even suggested it. He thought perhaps it was how she dealt with not being able to date, or how she kept herself focused on an excellent GPA. He thought that maybe she was simply like him, unable to show others the emotions he felt for various reasons at various times. He felt guilty by the time she left home and almost immediately was taken up with some boy, until of course he met Max. Charlotte took a few months to figure out if she really liked him, then decided that she did and they were a couple. It made sense and her parents approved. They were both a bit blindsided by Henry, though.

A few months ago whenever she told them that Henry was her best friend, and _had been_ since junior high, they were flabbergasted. How had they not known that? She explained, "Because you never seemed interested in my friendships, only my school and safety." And that was that. Their guilty consciences dropped the subject and told her that they accepted this new truth, and were curious about why she spent so much time tutoring the boy. At least, knowing this, they knew that he wasn't as unintelligent as they had presumed, needing all of that tutoring. Charlotte was annoyed that they thought that she was spending birthdays and several hours of many holidays with tutoring subjects. Did they think that she had no friends? She let it go. She'd always let things go, because they were detached from a lot of the emotional aspects of her world, but at least they weren't like _Henry's_ parents.

She loved the Harts. They were like a second family (something that she never felt for the Dunlaps), but they were also… Kind of irresponsible. One might argue that her parents were just as irresponsible, because she was left to her own devices, a lot. But, she rationalized that since they kept tabs and had her report in frequently that was their parenting. Henry and Piper seemed to often just kind of be left in the wind. The things that had taken place at that house, without their parents' knowledge was very concerning to Charlotte before she got used to them.

They were very loving, but also… Kind of doofy. Mr. Hart was hella doofy. Mrs. Hart was… sensible, but Charlotte was pretty sure that she had witnessed lowkey extramarital affairs or the glazing over of such on multiple occasions. She had even once or twice thought to herself that if Ray had ever shot his shot, he honestly probably had a chance at some temporary side piece action. Of course, that would mean the end of Kid Danger. Fitness instructors of sports that she wasn't even interested in learning was one thing, but if Siren ever went on a trip with Henry's boss… Henry would disown both of them.

Charlotte wondered why in the world was she thinking about this? The subject of the day was her and Henry - what they were and weren't and how their parents felt about it… "Oh my God!" She said, realizing something. Everybody looked at her and she cleared her throat, "I think I left the most comfortable pajamas in the world upstairs," she said and rushed off.

Henry was going to tell her that he definitely put them into her bag, but the way that she moved her head, he realized that she was both lying and signaling him to come with. "I'll help her."

"With one pair of pajamas?" Jake wondered, but the young adults vanished up the stairs.

When they were alone, Charlotte paced, with her arms folded and immediately began talking, "I just figured out what's wrong with us."

"We lie about pajamas is one of few things," he joked.

"We can't figure out what we're going to do about us or how to handle our feelings and our relationship, because look at what we've had as examples!" She pointed her palms towards the downstairs area.

"Awesome parents that love us and let us live our lives?" She stared at him, hoping he didn't really think that was true.

"Your dad is oblivious. Your mom is… well, pretty great, but maybe not as all in as Mr. Hart is. They've let you to be a third parent to Piper, from the time that you were younger than she is right now. They're kind of neglectful and I don't know that they are as into the whole family life thing as a functional couple should be…"

"What? They make some mistakes, but they do their best and I for one have never felt unloved by my parents."

Charlotte hugged herself gently and looked at the ground, smiling sadly. "Cool."

"Char?"

"No. Maybe you're right. Maybe, it's just me with the messed up family life and maybe that's the reason why it's _usually_ me that sabotages us."

"No, that's not what I was…" He reached for her and removed her arms from around herself to replace them with his own embrace. "I just meant, they did alright. And if a 'messed up family life' made somebody like you, Char - I'll be more than happy to start an imperfect family.." She furrowed her eyebrows. "I just meant, you came out wonderful, but what was messed up about your family life? You did have some good points about my parents, but what do you think was wrong with yours?"

She scoffed and laughed a little, "I had to learn to be independent when I was 10 and my parents left me with my Uncle Roscoe, who I spent most of the time babysitting, because they had important work to do. My mother routinely acquired psychiatric degrees, until she got bored with the minds of humans and focused on becoming the first (and she's the person who is now famous for making this up) _interspecies psychiatrist._ She would rather communicate with plants and animals, and _other_ people than her own family. I just tell people she's a psychiatrist, because her actual job sounds completely insane, and yet, she is a scholar! And an academic. My father agreed to leave his government career to become a professor when I was born, so that he could be at home more, but he schedules lectures all over the world, all year round, and is in talks for having his own talk show about the universe. He's written more books about astrophysics than he has given me celebration gifts. I counted once. My birthday, holidays and special events included - he's written more books than acknowledged my existence."

"Wait, you counted? Why did you do that to yourself?" Henry softly asked, sad for whatever was going on inside of her, right now.

"Because, sometimes whenever I'm talking myself out of having you, I've always wondered if it was my voice or theirs. I think it's theirs. I think my inner voice for a lot of things is theirs. My mom was a world renowned psychiatrist, before she began this practice of performing psychiatric work on plants and animals. They married because they were statured well together. They had a child, I think, to see how their genetics would combine. It only took them 10 years to realize that they really weren't all that impressed and to move on with the important things in their lives - work, and now that's the thing that I focus on more than anything."

Henry pulled her closer and told her, "I'll bet that you're right about a lot of that, because you're so smart and observant. But, I also think that isn't the whole picture. Whenever I talk to them about you, they're genuinely proud. They don't just mention how well you're doing in class. Your mom, specifically always asks about if you seem stressed or anxious and asking me to keep an eye on that and she's told me to advise you to regularly see a therapist, just for general mental health."

"You got that idea from my mom?"

"Yeah. What, you thought that I just suggested therapy because that's a go to, for me?"

"I thought you did it because you thought it'd be reasonable for me. You're losing points for yourself, here, Hen."

He groaned, "Well, if it means that your mom gets them, I'm good with that. Because… She is so weird, Char. Like… I'm sometimes fearful around her, but I know she loves you. She maybe just didn't have anybody to teach her how that worked."

"She's a leading psychiatrist. She should have learned how that worked while working on her hoard of degrees."

"Maybe. Maybe that stuff is easier read than done." Charlotte squinted her eyes at Henry and he bit his lip, wondering if he'd just said something so stupid… But she gave him a kiss. He smiled into it.

"You're the best, Henry." She decided to drop the subject of their parents altogether. But, she still felt a way about it. She just didn't believe that they had healthy examples to model and that they had such varying examples, how in the world could they ever work, even in an official dating capacity? Lucky for them, now that they're parents knew… They were "official," whether they claimed it, or not.


	16. Mistletoe Moodt

_Wanted to get this chapter out before I took a break and worked on some other things unrelated. I'm trying to get into a schedule/routine of writing, but this one is maybe the last one for the next couple of weeks or so. I have at least one more Winter Break chapter to write (that I wanna wait on this Bilskeys thing to see how I feel, before I write that one), and I have hella V-Day ish with my family this weekend, and a few updates for one of my online girlfriends that I'll be working on in the meantime. As always, thank y'all so much for being here, because we all know that you don't have to be. My heart is with y'all. Happy Valentines Day, Loves._

 _I wasn't listening to anything when I wrote this chapter, but I do have one of those plum candles that Glad released for The Nutcracker and the Four Realms burning._

 **Mistletoe Moodt**

That embarrassing display from their parents only went well into the night, so Charlotte knew that from then on, whenever she came to Swellview, it would be a hotel stay. Schwoz told her that she should have sleepovers in the man cave, but followed it up with talking to his rocks and plucking hairs from their toes. So… Even if she would have ever thought about a sleepover there, she never would after that visual.

Henry was a little bit timid to come on too strong. Her confessions about their parents and how she felt about sabotaging things made him feel like he had to walk on eggshells about his own feelings. He was worried that maybe his complete openness might be a trigger for her flight response. So, he tried to take it easy, and fortunately had Jasper to bounce things off of.

Black Friday night, she'd let him be openly affectionate with her, but he couldn't tell if it was natural for her or something she allowed just because her parents now knew about them and would probably expect it. She slept at theirs the rest of the weekend and her parents drove her home. She and Henry talked frequently via video chats and the Whiz Watch, but they weren't mentioning them, even though they capped their calls with, "I'll miss you. Click." (Or "I love you. Click." "Sweet dreams. Click." "Good luck. Click."

Charlotte hated ending their calls, but they had done that, "You hang up first" thing once, and she knew that she couldn't live like that, so she suggested that they say the last thing that they would want the other to know before hanging up, like it was the last time they had a chance, and punctuate the statement with their "Click," to indicate the call was over.

They were all excited for winter break. Charlotte had some wedding planning to do with Bysh, but aside from that, she'd spend some time with Henry, and her parents planned to be home for Christmas, and wanted to do another holiday with the Harts. Jasper was invited, of course, even though his parents wouldn't be there. It was going to be a melting pot of family, friends and holiday cheer. Charlotte was stoked that her parents were actively seeking events with her and her friends and Henry was stoked that this kind of acknowledgment from the Pages might mean that Charlotte would be more open to letting them be happy together.

He made numerous plans for the two of them, some for the trio, some for the whole Man Cave family, some for their families. He was just… honestly floating on air with the prospects of this winter break and what it might mean for he and Charlotte. Sure, there were probably other things to think about, but that was definitely what he felt was the most important.

.

Charlotte wanted to get her midterm grades before she left, but her therapist had advised her to simply leave school behind when it was time for her loved ones and the grades would still be there when she got back. Plus, it wasn't like she'd done _poorly._ She just wanted that quick gratification of affirmation of her greatness. So, she muted her alerts from the school and her professors, she packed her things and she got prepared to go to the airport. She heard a knock and was surprised, but went to the door and looked through the peephole. "Max?"

She opened the door and he offered a small smile, "Hey, Charls. Got a minute?" She stepped back and let him inside. "Sorry to just stop by like this. I just got back from a long mission and wanted to try to catch you before you left town for the holidays."

"That mission that you went on right before Thanksgiving?" He nodded. "Wow, that was long. Was it pertaining to Phoebe?" He nodded again. "Well… I'm glad you made it back safely," she said and gave him a tight hug.

"Listen. I just wanted to tell you… I know that you and I left off on fine terms and that we said we'll always be friends and a part of us will always love each other…"

"Nice recap," she said, awkwardly.

"I just… I guess now that I've gone out and done the things that I've done to get to the bottom of what happened to my sister, I realized that coming home and having nobody there is not what I want for myself."

"Oh?"

"And I can't move on unless we for sure, clearly agree that there is no chance that there would ever be a future for us. Unless you actually tell me that there's not a chance in this world, I don't know that I'll ever be untethered from you."

"Oh!"

"So… Will you just?"

"Yeah… Well… I don't see there ever being a future for us."

"That sounds like there's still a chance."

"Well, no. I mean, I don't think so. I haven't thought about you like that in a while, but to say for sure that I'll never have a single emotion towards you? I don't know. I mean, what if I say I'll never want you again, then in a few years, you're all I want? That's a lot of responsibility, and I'm not a good liar. So, I'm trying my best to say that it is very, very unlikely, but that I don't positively know."

He sighed and nodded, "So, there's still a chance," he said, smiling.

"No.. Let's just say no. I'm… actually building with Henry, now. Trying to, at least. This time, actually, actively trying.."

He looked crestfallen, but nodded. "That's not surprising to me. What happens whenever it gets real? You go back to Swellview and live off of residuals from your websites and apps?"

"No idea. Maybe." She shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever the case, sorry about that uncertainty earlier. There's no chance. I love Henry, and to be fair, I probably did, even when I loved you."

"To be fair, isn't it possible that you still love both of us?"

"I guess. But, I choose Henry." She felt bad.

He nodded his head and wiped a hand down his beard. "Thank you for always being honest with me. You're a good person, Charlotte. I hope that you don't grow to hate me for how I respond to this."

Her eyes widened, "That sounded freakishly menacing."

He just smiled and placed his hands behind his back, "I'll leave you to your plans. Happy holidays." When he left, she wondered if she should tell Henry about that, but Henry would erupt, and probably flip his lid, when she may have just misinterpreted Max sulking. So, she just decided that she would tell Hen, very generally about this visit and something like, _He didn't seem cool with it, but he tried to be polite._

 _._

Charlotte was _not_ expecting to see Ray, Schwoz, Jasper, and Henry all in ugly Christmas sweaters with a welcome home sign. It wasn't even Christmas yet and also, she'd just seen all of them less than a month prior. "What is even going on?" She asked, with a partial smile right before Henry grabbed her and kissed her (in front of everyone - something that they had yet to discuss doing)...

Schwoz asked curiously, "So, _now_ are you and Charlotte like dating?"

"YES, SCHWOZ, WE'RE DATING!" They both said, in unison.

"WHAT?" Jasper asked.

"Give him the money, Kid," Ray said.

"That was an unfair situation!" Jasper said. "What was she supposed to say?"

Ray said, "You owe the man money, Jasper!"

Henry now wondered, "Wait, what's going on, now?"

Schwoz smiled and said, "I knew that I could get Charlotte to admit it before Jasper could. We have a link."

Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows and said, "You just asked me over and over at inappropriate times until I said yes."

"Yes, but I won this bet," Schwoz said.

Ray added, "Schwoz has been saying this for years."

Jasper commented, "We only started the bet at Thanksgiving."

"And he _won,_ Jasper," Ray said, "Am I gonna have to beat that money out of you?" Charlotte thought Ray looked hilarious in an ugly Christmas sweater, but Jasper was intimidated enough to pull out however much he owed Schwoz.

Schwoz counted his money, smiled and said, "I still have enough time to order my special edition worms for Christmas." Everyone made a face at that announcement.

"And now, the festivities begin!" Ray cheered. "Where's Charlotte's sweater?"

Henry grabbed it and she smiled uncomfortably, "You shouldn't have…" He started to pull it over her head. "Henry!"

He wrestled it onto her, not even noticing how he was upsetting her hair, and then cheered, "Let the festivities begin!"

Charlotte tried to fluff her hair out without any mirror accessible and wondered, "What. Festivities?"

"Carol Madness!" The guys cheered.

"What is…?"

"You haven't told her about Carol Madness?" Ray asked, and bumped Henry aside, from having his arm around Charlotte to explain it to her, "Carol Madness is a new celebration in the center of Swellview. Caroling groups come together to sing their songs, but you get to choose who you listen to. It's not like the old days whenever they used to come to your house and if they sucked, you had to tough it out in the Christmas spirit. If they suck, you get to walk away and find another group that you like!"

"I do like walking away from things that suck, but who would even put themself in that position?"

"Yours and Henry's parents!" Ray cheered, laughing.

"Wait, what? My parents are singing carols?" Charlotte asked, already dying of secondhand embarrassment. "What would make them DO that?"

"They just wanted to do something fun with my parents. God, it's gonna be so stupid. We wore these ugly sweaters because we're gonna have a little tailgate party near their singing stoop and boo people who give them any crap."

"They're gonna look like idiots. I'm honestly just going to throw a Christmas pie at Henry's dad."

Henry stopped smiling, "Wait, what?"

"Christmas pie. Full of plums. I was gonna use Jasper's mom's fruitcake, but Schwoz ate it."

"It was delicious," Schwoz said, defensively.

Henry looked at what Ray had gestured to as a Christmas pie full of plums. "Dude, that is literally just a box of plums."

"The store was out of Christmas pies! Now, lets go, before we lose our spots and I hit the wrong person with these plums."

"I'm not letting you hit my dad with plums, Dude."

"How do you plan to stop me?" Ray wondered.

Henry opened his mouth to say something, but Charlotte took his hand into hers and gave him a smirk. He eyed her suspiciously and she asked, "Hen, isn't that your mom over there?"

Ray nearly tripped over his own feet to try to turn and look and she slapped the box out of his hands, making all of the plums roll in different directions. He looked at her fuming and she simply smiled, proudly. Henry smiled too, even more proudly. Ray nodded his head tossed the empty box aside and said, "This means war, Charlotte."

"I don't believe that you have the strategic intuition to go to war with me, so I'm fine with that." He folded his arms and she rubbed his shoulders. "C'mon, Man. You know that I couldn't let you throw plums at Henry's dad."

"But it was gonna be funny!" He complained. "What's gonna be funny, now?"

"I think the thought of our parents singing together will be enough, Ray," Charlotte said and pat him on the shoulder. "It'll have to be, Buddy." Henry wrapped his arm around the small of her back and gave her a little kiss on the temple. These ugly sweaters were actually super comfy and here she was, snuggled up with her fave guy and hanging out with her closest friends.

Jasper jumped in front of everyone with his phone poised for a selfie and called, "Everybody say 'Ho, Ho, Ho, Mistletoe!" What he wound up with was an unimpressed Ray, Schwoz in the middle of actually saying it, Henry reflexively smiling at the camera, because selfies and Charlotte giving Jasper a confused look, wondering why _that_ was what he'd have everyone say. "At least me and Henry are smiling," Jasper said. "And Henry and Charlotte are _snuggling."_ He sang the word snuggling.

"Dude, don't," Henry and Charlotte both said at the same time, then looked at each other, giggling and accidentally brushed noses, which made them both laugh more. He topped that moment off with another peck, this time on the lips.

God, they hadn't _discussed_ it, but Charlotte had to admit, everything felt right. In Hen's voice, she thought ' _Feels gooood.'_ She smiled at that thought and he felt her smiling and looked at her, "What?"

She just stared at him and shrugged her shoulders. "I like you. I like this. Us." He smiled back and gave her a squeeze. Then she remembered the weird talk that she and Max had before she left home and she frowned, "Hey. I gotta tell you about this strange visit that I got from Max…"

"He beg you to take him back and you tell him to take a hike?" He wondered.

"Not… exactly. He wanted me to tell him that we were for sure done, and I hesitated, but eventually admitted that I chose you." Henry fist pumped. "He played it off like he was cool, but something about how he was afterwards bothered me. Especially after what I found out he did to the Spoiler. I don't know. I feel like it's arrogant to presume that he won't just move on and be free, but… He seemed off."

"I wouldn't just move on and be free. But, don't worry about it. Your man is gonna keep you safe."

"I'm not worried about _me._ Max wouldn't hurt _me."_

"What, you're worried about me? What - you think I can't take Max?" Henry wondered, a bit offended, if he was being honest.

"I think that he's been training and fighting longer, has more powers and less morals these days. Just… If anything happens, don't be this cocky. Max excels when he's underestimated."

"I don't need any battle pointers, Char."

"Henry. Don't play around. Ease my mind and just tell me that you won't underestimate him or be cocky."

"Okay. I won't do it." She stared at this profile. He appeared to be clenching his jaw and she could tell that he was upset with her, even though he still had his arm around her, but she wasn't going to hold her tongue if it meant his safety. She did lowkey wonder if this was like that time he said that he wasn't going to help her with Bysh, then totally tried to and screwed Bysh in the process. But, she wasn't going to mess with this subject any more while he was being sensitive about his perceived notion of what she meant by her words. This was more like that time that he got mad at her for a backup plan, and she realized that he wasn't going to just put it together himself that this was another show of concern for him because she didn't want to see him hurt, not that she didn't believe that he was capable. He always wanted to appear tough, and she knew that with them being open now that the burden was probably heavier for him to do so, in front of wrapped her arm around him too, gave him an affectionate squeeze on the side, and he smiled a little, even though he didn't look at her again. It didn't take much to smooth him over. Not for her, anyways.

.

The Pages and the Harts sang a few songs before all they wanted to do was enjoy the rest of the gathering with Charlotte and Henry. Or, at least Siren, and the Pages did. Jake was still filled with Christmas cheer and went on to try to find another group that would allow him to sing with them. Ray told Schwoz, "I could really have used that fruitcake right now."

"Ray!" Charlotte snapped and clapped her hands at him. Their parents were approaching. He moved right passed Henry to try to hug his mom and Charlotte wondered, "Ray, will Mimi be joining us?" He froze and turned to face Charlotte. She smiled and intercepted Siren's hug. "How's that war thing coming along?" She wondered, over her friend's mom's shoulder. Ray clenched his fists, but then, he thought about something… Where the heck _was_ Mimi? He hadn't spoken to her in days and had gotten together with her in weeks. He'd have to call her and check on her. In the meantime, he noticed that after Henry's mom hugged her son and his friends, and awkwardly shook Schwoz's hand, trying not to react to the fact that it was wet for some reason and hoping it was just because of the snow or something, she circled back to him, "And surely you must know Henry, Jasper and Charlotte's boss… Ummm… Manchino?" She tried, wincing as she did.

Ray smiled. She somehow was still gorgeous, even butchering his name. He had to forgive her. Because, to him, her name was literally "Henry's mom." He didn't think he'd ever heard it spoken before. "Ray Manchester," he said shaking Mrs. Page's hand. "You must be Charlotte's sister."

"I don't have a sister," Charlotte said.

"Charlotte's cousin."

"Stop," Charlotte said.

"I'm Charlotte's _mother,_ Dr. Esmeralda Page. We've met, Mr. Manchester - several times."

"You and me have?" Ray wondered, smiling.

Charlotte offered, "Imagine her with glasses, her dreadlocks up in a beehive, a business suit, a cell phone, and speaking very sternly to you about, oh, overtime pay regulations, child labor restrictions, messages on my phone after 11 pm…" Ray gasped and held himself, backing away. "Yeah. My mom, Ray."

Her dad moved forward to shake his hand, too. "I'm Charlotte's dad. Ant…"

"Charlotte's Dad is actually enough," Ray said, shaking his hand. "I will not remember your name."

"Well, at least call me Dr. Charlotte's Dad."

"I will probably remember that," Ray said. "Have I met you?"

"You almost met my lawyer when my wife last spoke to you and wound up unconscious on the floor of your junk shop," he said.

"I don't recall. Oh no! What happened to her?"

"As it turned out," Charlotte said, "Mom's blood pressure rose talking to you and she fainted." _Ray had actually zapped her, and Charlotte was still angry, to this day whenever she thought about it. He and Henry zapped people way too much!_ "Lucky for you. Dad's lawyer is a beast."

"That's Dr. Dad, Charlotte," Ray said, then pointed to his eyes and to Charlotte's dad, like they were eye-to-eye about something. They weren't. Charlotte's dad cleared his throat and suggested going to see some of the carolers. The group began to head away when Jake waved at them from another singing group, singing Walkin' Around the Christmas Tree. "REALLY could use that Christmas pie, right about now," Ray fussed in Charlotte's direction. She sighed and shook her head.

Henry caught her hand and when she looked at him, he said, "Come see something." She started to follow him, then paused.

"It's not something _gross,_ is it?"

"No, it's not gross. Shut up. Come see."

She glanced at Ray, who somehow managed to put an arm around both of their mothers and she could only guess what in the world he might be discussing right now, but her father seemed amused at how bemused her mother looked, while Siren just appeared to be being nice and pretending to actively listen - much like Charlotte had seen her do Mr. Hart, many times. That's how she knew the look. She continued to walk with Henry and he pointed up into a tree.

He pointed to something and began to spout off facts about whatever plant they were looking at. "They grow on branches as parasites, the most common species in the eastern United States—is _Phoradendron_ , Greek for "tree thief." They produce white berries, each containing one sticky seed that can attach to birds and mammals for a ride to new growing sites. When one of their seeds lands on a suitable host, it sends out roots that penetrate the tree and draw on its nutrients and water. Trees infested with it die early because of the parasitic growth."

"That's awful!" She said, suddenly really sorry for this poor tree.

"It's not _all_ bad. They produce dead trees that are useful to nesting birds and mammals. An infested forest may produce three times more cavity-nesting birds than a forest without them…"

"I love this knowledgeable side of you, Hen. But, what AM I looking at?"

He scoffed, "Mistletoe, duh."

NOW, she understood. He brought her underneath this tree for a kiss, and him knowing what he was talking about with this plant was _definitely_ doing it for her. Charlotte wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him in close, smiled and initiated their first long kiss since she got back. Henry let out a satisfied sigh, rested his chin on her hair and continued, "The kissing custom may date to at least the 1500s in Europe. It was practiced in the early United States: Washington Irving referred to it in "Christmas Eve," from his 1820 collection of essays and stories, _The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent_. In Irving's day, each time a couple kissed under a mistletoe sprig, they removed one of the white berries. When the berries were all gone, so was the sprig's kissin' power…" He let go of her and quickly began to climb the tree.

"Henry, what are you…?"

He came back down and handed her the mistletoe that they had just kissed under. She snatched it, trying not to get too emotional, because she didn't really like showing _too_ much, but _dang, Hen!_

"There's actually a bunch of different origin stories, depending on which historians you pay attention to. I thought that version was just gonna gel best with what I was tryin' to do there. Read about it in a book that I got from Flower Camp entitled _Flower, or Nah._ "

She shuffled her foot, "Well? Is it a flower?"

"Surprisingly, yes."

She smiled widely, "You just climbed up a tree, in the snow, to give me a flower," she said, unable to control the emotion now. Her nose was hot and her eyes stung.

Henry smiled back and nodded, "Yeah, I did."

"My first flower from you… is a mistletoe… I'm going to preserve this." She held it to her heart and commented, "I'm not crying. The cold is hurting my face."

"Awww," he said and snuggled up to her with his face against hers. "Better?" She held up her mistletoe above her head and Henry stooped to give her another kiss.

"Better, now," she told him.

"Henry? Charlotte?" Their mothers were calling out to them and Henry took her free hand so that they could walk back to meet them. Whenever they reached them, Henry let go of Charlotte and he adn Ray began talking about something, cheerfully, with Jasper and Schwoz laughing and chiming in. She watched "her boys" happily and reached into her bag to try to put the mistletoe in a safe place. Hmmm… She had a plastic bag that she'd had snacks in earlier and it didn't look too bad, but she turned it inside out and put her mistletoe flower inside. There was no way she was going to let anything happen to that thing.

"Charlotte, will you stop being a nerdy weirdo for one minute and pay attention?" Ray asked. He pointed a finger at her and joked, "What's she, collecting specimens for some science junk?"

"Hey, hey! You might be able to talk to your little bald friend that way, but not my Charlotte. Not while I'm here, Mr. Manchester." Esmeralda said to him, not used to Ray's way of communicating to Charlotte.

"Sorry Mrs. Dr. Charlotte's Dad," Ray said, lowering his head. Charlotte laughed and rushed over to them to explain to her mom that he didn't mean anything by it and to join in on the fun.


	17. Talk Flower to Me

_I was ecstatic when Jake said that he wanted to be in an adult choir AFTER I'd written the caroling chapter! Omg. It's so him. Lol. Anywhoooo. Lawd - The Bilskys, huh? What a fam. So, I know that earlier in the show Henry mentioned never meeting them and now it's canon that he has. For the sake of the continuity in this story, I'm just going to have him have known about the family (in particular Jeff), but not have gathered up with all of them. But, I just may have to have a Piper/Billy ship. I'm not positive on that, yet. I do have big plans in store for her, always have, and I don't yet know how well a ship would fit in with her eventual story arch._

 **Talk Flower to Me**

Things started out so smoothly. From the night out at Carol Madness, to the first grown up sleepover with Charlotte as his actual girlfriend, Henry was basically floating on air and she was playing things cool, but he could tell that Char was just as enraptured as he was. Deep down, Henry had always been quite the romantic. He gave his first girlfriend an apology dinner in his room that would have probably got him at least to second base if Jasper hadn't taken that time to clobber him with a slab of meat. _Long story._ He elected to take another girlfriend to one of the most sought out restaurants in town when he had the chance to bring anyone… And now, he was in love with, no - _involved with -_ his best friend.

Char was pretty jet lagged at the beginning of the evening, but something about Hen being all romantic and textbook great boyfriend material got her blood racing and her heart pounding. She wanted him so bad, long before they were allowed to retire for the night. The thing about hanging out with big groups was if just one person spat out a new idea, everyone else felt inclined to go along with it, not wanting to be the first ones to spoil the collective group fun. Charlotte was not self conscious about that, at all and after indulging Henry a few add-on plans with their "extended family," she straight up said, "Mom. Dad. Harts. Coworkers. I'm out, k? Thanks. Good night. Hen?" And he smiled at them, and threw up a peace sign as he rushed off to catch up with her. Ray and Schwoz gave her retreating back a hard time about leaving so soon (it was almost Midnight), and her parents instructed her to message them when she safely arrived in her hotel room.

She and Henry were up very, very late, exploring what Henry called, "Extra Good good-good," because according to him, "This all feels so much better, now that you're mine." She didn't know how she felt about that whole "mine" business, but she got what he was saying. It felt more comfortable, safer, and intimate for her, with strings attached. She definitely loved when they were casual, but he touched her differently, now. He kissed her differently. He loved her differently, whether he meant to, or not. She believed every single action and gesture. There was simply more certainty and she couldn't believe how frightened she had previously been of this commitment…

That is, until she was left alone with her thoughts. She fell to sleep before he did, but she woke up in the middle of the night. Henry was wrapped around her, protectively and she smiled to herself and stroked the hairs of his arms. _Mine._ Such a powerful four letter word. Maybe even more powerful than love and hate. Those had multiple definitions, depending on who you asked. "Mine," had only one. _I belong to him…_ But, in what way, though? They were miles apart on a daily basis. Neither of them was interested in changing their scenery, at least not any time soon and she was most certain that she would never be willing to. In fact, the Pages were currently thinking of moving near her after she graduated, because wherever she posted herself for work, they wanted to be near, in case she turned out to be as busy as them (in which case, they figured they may never see her again).

To be fair, that was at least a couple of years away… But to be even more fair, she and Henry had sort of been doing this little dance for just about the same amount of time! She sat up and looked at him, sleeping peacefully and reaching for her in his sleep state. That boy really could sleepwalk his way probably through an entire helping of their intimacy. She gave him a kiss on each of his knuckles and he smiled, peacefully and slipped back into a motionless sleep as she returned his hands to himself. Charlotte climbed out of bed and got on to her laptop. She wanted a distraction from those invading thoughts and figured that she would lurk in some forums about her upcoming website and get her mind off of her worries. She actually came across more worries in a "Does anybody know if Kid Danger is coming to FaceMask?" thread. _She_ knew, but she was curious as to what kind of info was out there about it.

There were a lot of girls, women, whatever… They missed him on SoulDates and wanted to be able to reconnect with him. They had things to say about their _hookups,_ comparing notes and anecdotes. And… She _knew_ that Henry had met many women casually on that site, but that they were finding each other, and that they wanted to seek him out… That part now gave her anxiety. Then she read it.

"Do any of you have his hookup hotline number that he connected whenever he deactivated from SoulDates?" Her eyes watered a little bit. He hadn't mentioned that, at all.

"I still have it, but a little while ago, he mass texted everyone and asked that they grant him space and only use it in case of extreme emergency. He won't even respond back if you send him a casual text, and one of my online friends from SoulDates said that she called him to try to set up a date and he blocked her for not respecting his wishes!" That made her feel a little bit better. It was possible that she was the reason that Henry stopped using that line… But the Man Cave had a hero hotline, so… If he was holding on to some secret phone for _emergencies,_ why was it secret and what kind of emergency could some fwbs from a dating site really have that they'd need to call him directly? It just felt like… It felt like a backup plan, if things didn't go the way that he wanted them to go with her. And, that stung. She took a deep breath and realized that she was jumping to conclusions. She should ask him about it. It wasn't like he could say "Kid Danger is now off of the market." Well… of course he could! That was supposed to be the main purpose of SoulDates! _Stop making yourself angry, Charlotte._

She logged off. Now, she wasn't going to be able to sleep.

Charlotte grabbed a box that she had unpacked and placed on the nightstand and opened it to reveal carefully placed crystals. She bit her lip, selected a rose quartz and an amethyst and closed the box. She put one on the headboard and one beneath her pillow, willing herself to have peaceful rest and the energy to get up before Henry and put her crystals away so he wouldn't give her a hard time about it.

She had never been religious or spiritual or any of that stuff, but while she was overseas, one of her flatmates spoke of some of her Haitian practices, another spoke of Yoruba deities, and more than a couple mentioned communing with ancestors. All of them were very pragmatic and brilliant women, hence how they too won the trip. Charlotte didn't immediately rethink her life or anything extreme like that, but she did get a little bit curious about spirituality. She wondered if someone could be scientific and also spiritual and why would they want to? She began that journey out of curiosity and the need to not think too hard about Henry. She talked to her mom about it - the spirituality, not the Henry… and she found out that her mother had been working with crystal energy for years and that was what had led her to her dream job in a field that she felt compelled to create a space for.

So, she just began to try it out, after she came back to the states, Mrs. Page took her to a shop and she couldn't say for sure _that day,_ but… It did _feel_ like some of these crystals beckoned her. She felt like using them, getting more familiar with them, learning more about her own energy was affecting her life. She felt like it was what gave her the peace of mind to finally allow herself to love Henry… And now she wanted to keep that away from him until she was comfortable enough to admit it out loud.

.

Henry woke up when the smoke alarm blared and he found nobody there when he reached for Charlotte. "Char!" He was already worried. The smell of smoke. The absence of Charlotte… "Charlotte!" He rushed into her hotel mini kitchen, where she was extinguishing a fire and he exhaled, glad that she was safe. "Char, what happened?" he asked, walking up to her.

She turned to him, with the saddest face he had seen on her in a while and confessed, "I wanted to make you breakfast, but everything that could have went wrong, went wrong…" He looked at the table. The only edible looking thing was the platter of fresh fruit that he knew was for Charlotte. "I tried to follow the instructions and everything. A recipe is just like a science project, right? How did I get everything so messed up?"

Henry looked at the coated grease fire bacon in her pan and tried not to laugh, because she seemed to feel bad and she was like a cute, sad puppy, with her bantu knots all messed around from last night, and maybe this morning, a Kid Danger kissing her t-shirt, a pair of Captain Manderpants, and fuzzy socks. "You… are so adorable," he said, taking the extinguisher away from her and giving her a kiss on the lips. She managed a little smile. _Note to self. Char CANNOT cook._ He got rid of the mess, because he was faster, then sat down with her. "I appreciate the effort," he said. She waited for a punchline or taunting of some sort, but it never came. Instead, he tried to eat her awful, wet eggs, and hard, blackened toast that even scraping and smothering in butter didn't help.

"Something is wrong with that toaster!" She insisted.

"So, is this," he circled a finger around his plate, "Why you never cook?" He had a smile on his face and she frowned. _There it is!_ "Wow. Something that Charlotte isn't good at, and I somehow love you even more knowing this."

"I've never made the time to learn to cook!" She said, defensively. "My family didn't have certain nights that it was my turn, and when they were out of town or even since I've been away at college, almost everywhere delivers."

"Awwwww, it's so cute how defensive you are about something that I don't even have a problem with."

"Stop it!" She hissed, embarrassed. "I know what you're doing." She offered her platter, "You want some fresh fruit?"

"Wait… This wasn't some kind of elaborate hoax to try to get me to put fresh fruit into my diet, was it? Because, honestly, you're my girlfriend. All you have to do is ask me to try it and I will."

She frowned, "No, I didn't almost burn half of my face off to introduce fresh fruit into your diet, Henry."

"Good." He reached for some fruit, "Also, I'm not eating the rest of this. It's actually horrible, Char."  
She sighed, "I know. I don't blame you. Auto snacker had all of us spoiled."

He let out a high pitched, "Well…" and added quickly, "But some of us can still make toast."

"There is something wrong with that toaster! I've made toast before!" Henry's eyes twinkled like he was gonna comment on her cuteness again, so she stuffed pineapple into his mouth to avoid it.

.

Henry made himself proper breakfast. After the night he and Char had, he didn't understand at all how she could be fed with fruit and water, but aside from some complimentary nuts from the hotel, that was all that she'd had for hers. Afterwards, she had to go to the Bilskys and was honestly relieved that Henry was there, by the time that this meeting took place. That family was a lot to deal with. Mitch kept flirting with Charlotte, picking at Henry and celebrating with Jeff his mediocre… no _substandard_ insults.

Bysh tried to get them to "Leave my first and only real friend alone!" So many times, but the family was there to make sure that Charlotte didn't try to ruin any of their family wedding traditions like peeling away in a stolen car with just married spray painted on the back. Charlotte _immediately_ suggested to Bysh not to do that. "The key to a long healthy relationship is to start a journey together… Not to get arrested and go to jail at the same time."

"You've never been to jail?" Jeff, Mitch, and Mrs. Bilsky asked.

Charlotte scoffed, "No!"

Henry interjected, "Actually, you have… That time when Captain Man got arrested and we protested stupid laws."

Charlotte quickly explained to the room, "I was unfairly arrested."

Mitch smiled a little brighter at her now, "But, you _have_ been to jail…"

"Dude, seriously. Back off." Henry in his Hart form wasn't much of a fighter, but the way that Mitch was coming on to Charlotte, especially right in front of his face might have been about to change that fact. Charlotte was kinda turned on by it, but she didn't know if she'd tell him that. Probably. When their bodies were pressed against each other in bed, she frequently said things that she hadn't intended to, to him.

Bysh yelled at Mitch, at the top of her lungs, "Charlotte doesn't want you, Mitch! She doesn't like beefcakes, obviously - she's more into weenuses!"

"Actually…" Charlotte started.

"No, go with it," Henry quietly said.

"It's one of my nerdiest qualities. Liking a good old weenus." Bysh smiled and nodded, like she knew that about Charlotte. Bysh's mom showed Charlotte the dress that they were going to get, but Bysh didn't look very excited about it. "Is this what you want?" Charlotte wondered. She knew that Bysh often hid her real emotions and put on a tough face, but Charlotte knew her as a gentle person, at least for the past few years that they'd been friends. Bysh gave her mom a worried look and shrugged her shoulders. The dress was hideous, so Charlotte pressed, "Tell me what you're interested in. Patina and I can probably do it pretty quickly for you."

Bysh avoided her mother's accusatory stare and flipped to a photo of a pale pink dress, lined with flowers, with a high split and an open back. Her eyes lit up as she focused on Charlotte and confessed, "I feel like it's a princess dress, but still enough room for me to move around, for when I come down the aisle to his titantron music and I get the guest revved up for the celebration of us coming together in marriage!" She was screaming in a wrestler voice and Charlotte, while thrown off by that part, found this pretty endearing.

"I will work on making this happen for you."

"You're gonna look like a goofus in that!" Mitch offered. Charlotte, Henry and Britney now began to tear into him about picking on Bysh and her dreams. He looked shocked and backed out of the room.

Charlotte moved on, checking the list on her phone, "So, centerpieces and flowers…"

"Hadn't even thought about any flowers. Only ones I know are roses. But, I know what kind of centerpieces. We're getting those real big drinking glasses that they have in restaurants - the ones where they only let you order one or two if the drink is in that big of a glass? We're gonna wrap them in barbed wire and put fake blood in them."

"Ew," Henry reflexively said.

"But why?" Charlotte wondered, at the same time.

"To represent battle, of course," Britney said, as though the couple was stupid.

"Of course," Charlotte said confused. "But, what if instead of fake blood we did maybe some red dyed water and threw in some floating candles."

"Why that?" Britney now asked.

Charlotte stammered a little, then said, "Well, uh, for… battle, also! Like when the Vikings die bravely and have a ceremony, and get set on fire and sent sailing away." Henry's eyes were wide and he tilted his head, but Char knew what she was doing, because both Bilsky women LOVED that idea. Apparently Bysh's dad came from Slavic Vikings. Huh.

"Can it be a floating candle that looks like a person?" Her mom asked.

"Actually, I don't know if we'll have enough time or money to make that happen, but I know where we can get some lotus shaped ones in bulk, on the cheap."

"Done," Bysh said. "And, I guess roses…"

"Wait, wait, wait… No." Henry interrupted, "Not just roses. Come on. This is the day you get to say all the loving things to the man of your dreams that might seem out of place any other time."

"Shouldn't, but…" Charlotte started and Henry spoke over her, continuing.

"YOU, can tell an entire story with floral language."

"I'm born and raised in Swellview…" She said.

Henry sighed and shook his head, "Do you have vows? Or will you two yell into a microphone at each other like you're backstage, before a match?"

Bysh's eyes widened, "We are, now."

"Stop helping, Hen," Charlotte suggested.

Henry asked, "What do you feel towards this guy that you're marrying?"

Bysh shyly glanced at her mother, then admitted, in a low voice, "That I didn't think anybody would ever marry me. I'm not pretty like my mom or have as much charm."

"Oh, Honey. That's not true. You're way prettier than I was at your age. It's your lack of confidence that's kept the boys away!"

"Let her finish," Char said, kind of annoyed with the woman.

"Well, I met somebody tough enough to protect me, so I don't have to fight for myself as much. And all of the fighting that I had to do, surrounded by all these boys, being the only girl and trying to live up to everybody. But, I get to just be a girl, a woman, with him. He likes me all pretty and soft and I love being able to just be that with him… BUT - He appreciates that I am still tough. I can pick up an average height and weight grown man and fling him across a ring. I can pick up a man twice his size and body slam him!"

"You got flowers for that, Hen?" Charlotte teased, but Bysh looked hopeful.

Henry scrolled through his phone to find her some photos of what he'd suggest for her. "So, we said the hope and/or promise of love, protection, femininity, and strength. I say, can't go wrong with peach blossoms, for bridal hope. (I'm _definitely_ giving my future wife those on our special day.)" Charlotte fought a grin as he showed Bysh every flower he thought of for her ceremony, "Aster, for your daintiness and trust… I think red will work, because of your eclectic centerpieces and it won't clash with the others like darker aster might. White heather, for protection. Last, but not least, the black tulip, for power, strength, and supreme elegance." Bysh's face beamed as she looked at the flowers Henry was showing her on his phone and she nodded, hard. "Okay. So…"

Charlotte said, "I made a list." She smiled at him, proudly.

"Are you like a florist or something?" Jeff asked.

Henry had forgotten that he was even there. "No, Jeff. Just a dude that really digs flowers." Jeff looked confused, but just nodded.

"He could easily BE a florist," Charlotte said. "He's got a gift, this guy."

Bysh nodded in agreement. Her phone rang and Henry noticed it said 'Buggybear' on it. She answered, "Hey! Guess what? Charlotte and her super soft boyfriend helped me finish all the details for our special day!" She got up and left the room to keep talking to him and Charlotte and Henry packed up and left.

"That went well," Charlotte said.

Henry commented, "Those flowers are gonna be the best thing about her wedding."

"Her wedding seems like it will be an actual train wreck, but maybe we can class it up. Just think, she almost just only had _roses._ " Charlotte shook her head.

"Do… _You_ have flower preferences, for… for, you know… when and if…?"

"Um, yes. I don't have meanings and stuff like you do, BUT - I know what flowers I like."

"Lavender and lotuses, definitely on your likes list," he said. She was impressed that he retained that from observation, because she certainly hadn't mentioned it that she could remember. "Oh! Sunflowers, and they look good on you, too. In fact… oooh… you wearing flowers… Oooh…" He stared at her. She smiled shyly and looked away. "Like yellow flowers, pink ones… white ones…"

"Okay, let's… We have to meet up with Jasper, so don't get yourself too worked up over there, Bud." Secretly, she loved the attention from him.

"Well, I want the aisle covered in flowers and I want them to basically say everything beautiful that my vows would, if I was good at writing. I want them to speak about every aspect of what I feel for you… For her… For, my bride, whether that's you or whether you move on and I find someone else…" She furrowed her eyebrows and felt that uneasy feeling from before twist in her belly - that Henry had a backup plan. A secret life, a secret phone… "Rainflower for reciprocal love, primrose because the love is eternal, and you might not know this, but lotus represents purity, chastity and eloquence…"

"I thought it was rebirth?"

"That too…" His mouth watered again, "Look at you, knowin' flowers."

"I'll never be on your level. Hey, you ever think of botany?"

"What, as an elective in college?"

"As a major. The plant based jobs industry is growing, with people trying to save the Earth and stuff."

"I.. have a job…"

"Right, but you also are capable of a backup plan. You certainly had one when you deactivated your SoulDates account." She winced when it came out of her mouth.

"What are you talking about?"

"I accidentally found out that you had a booty call emergency line in a FaceMask forum. I wanted to ask you about it, not… not do whatever I just did."

"I don't use that phone anymore," he said and shrugged his shoulders. "I forgot all about it. It's been on a charger in my closet for I don't know how long."

"Why not just get rid of it? You have me now."

He nodded his head, "Okay, if that's what you want, of course, I will."

"No. I want you to do what you think is best for your life. I just don't understand why you still have it, if not as a failsafe for whenever I screw this up." She folded her arms.

"Failsafe for what? Wait… You think I'm holding on to that because I don't have confidence in us? Were you not there with me, last night? Babe - all I care about right now _is_ us." He cupped her face. "I'll cut that stupid thing off and chunk it off of the new Jandy bridge. They can call the Captain Man hotline, if they have an emergency."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. God. Who knew that you of all people could be jealous… over me?" She frowned, but couldn't argue with the truth, or at least for now wouldn't. He hugged her, "Come on, you adorable, non cooking, jealous little firecracker."

"So, we're not letting that go?"

"Not anytime soon. You started a fire, Charlotte!"

.

Now, it was becoming an icebreaker. "What kind of flowers would you have at your wedding?" and futhermore, Henry began a bit of a parlour trick of, "I think you should have these, because of blah, blah and blah." He was in the middle of telling Ray and Schwoz what kind of flowers that they would have at their wedding (either to each other or a joint one), both ideas making both of them argumentative, when Jasper went to sit by Charlotte.

"How do we always have such random conversations?"

"They start with good intentions," she said.

"Speaking of good intentions leading to the road to hell…"

"If you mention that bacon, Jasper - I swear to God…"

He laughed, "No, but that was hilarious and I'll have you know, I would have focused on the toast." She rolled her eyes. "I mean you and Henry."

"Me and Henry… the road to hell? Wow."

"I just mean… I love it! I ship it! I've been waiting for it for years. Also… Somebody will have a decision to make. We both know it will have to be Henry."

"Why do we both know that?"  
"Would you come back here for him?"  
"It's not that simple."

"So, he'd have to go to you, and to be frank, I'd tell him to."

"Jasper, Ray will never let you be his sidekick, Friend."

"I know, I know. It wouldn't be about that. Henry is so in love with you that he entire mood, his whole… like aura brightens whenever he looks at you. He loves you. Like LOVES you, loves you. He won't be able to do this for long. So, you'll either have a decision to make and break it off, or he'll have a decision to make and leave us here. Either way, it's gonna be…"

"Hell."

"For the most part. But, it'll pass. Especially if you stay together. Can you imagine? You two married, all the flowers he's been going on about? Possible half Henry/half Charlotte beautiful babies with excellent skin and flawless hair?"

"So, then… It's not the road to hell, but a road _through_ hell… I think I can travel that," she said with a confident smile. Jasper offered her a fist bump, but she stared at it. "What are you doing? Have you washed your hands today?"

"I mean… not… _today,_ but…" She took her hands and sat on them to keep them from even accidentally coming into contact with Jasper's. "But…" He sighed and let his fist fall.

.

Henry was glad to be alone with Charlotte earlier than the previous night and he snuggled in closely to her and complimented her smell, her taste, her softness, her kisses, her arms around him, her legs around him… It didn't take much of his whispering sweet nothings for her to be completely and utterly his. _Mine._ She thought of that word again, this time it burning in her heart.

What if Jasper was wrong? What if Henry wouldn't leave Kid Danger behind for her? She knew that it was unfair to ask him to, so she never would, but at that moment where they would have to look at each other and come to a conclusion… and the eternal love of primrose could just be words in their memory dripping from the withering petals. She started crying and Henry paused and cupped her face, "Char? What is it?" She held him tightly and buried her face in his neck. "Charlotte, what are you thinking about?"

"A withering primrose," she said.

Henry smiled softly and pulled out, kissed her collarbone and traced his fingers on the outside curve of her body. "One time, when I was younger, I saw a flower dying at my grandmother's house and I got really sad about it. Mind you, this was before I know flowers the way that I do now, but I was probably already into them, or maybe this was a catalyst, but anyway, what happened was this flower was wilted and I asked her what was wrong with it. She said, 'Oh, she's dying,' and maybe it was because she personified it that it hit me hard, but you'd think I found out a puppy was dying. I was so upset about it. She calmed me down and said, 'It's not the end, Hen-Hen. Because, even though she won't live forever, she was able to sprout seeds that went on to become another flower, and they sprouted seeds, and those sprouted seeds.' From that day on, even though I'd do everything to save a flower, if I saw one in distress… I've considered it just that one's time to go, but believed that it essentially lived on through it's seeds. That withering primrose you're thinking of doesn't mean the death of eternal love. Just means a different chapter of it." He kissed her on the shoulder and cradled her, "Hey, come here. Let me cuddle you until you fall to sleep. I know that you didn't get too much last night."

"You're the best, Henry. I never want… I always want…"

"Shhhh… Relax, Char. Get some sleep and say it with a clear head, tomorrow." She nodded, but. Get some sleep? How could she possibly even? Actually, she was sleep within minutes.


	18. The Thunderstorm

_Trigger Warnings for torture, violence, towards the end of the chapter and for overall entering a dark era of story line. Planning on maybe three dark chapters, but my plans and the way this story goes haven't always matched up._

 **The Thunderstorm**

Henry woke up to the smell of food and confused about it. He went to find Charlotte setting up a table with fruit, and flowers, the cart of food was next to it. "Morning, Char!" She jumped at the sound of his voice and then gave him a smile.

"Good morning, Henry."

"What is all this?"

"Breakfast!" She smiled. He looked suspicious. "Room service saved me a ton of embarrassment today and had some of your faves on the menu. I also got some flowers delivered." Now, Henry smiled, feeling like he was being wooed. _Hydrangeas: heartfelt gratitude for being understood._ That was a huge acknowledgment from Char. And Henry loved it when she acknowledged him. "So, today is a new day and I have a clear head. I wanted to tell you that no matter what happens, I don't want to have to be without you. I know it feels inevitable, but… Maybe we're cut out for it. Think about it - both of us have been leading double lives since we were 13. We can handle a few years of long distance relationship. We can probably handle _many_ years of it, if that's what we have to do. I'll be willing to do whatever it takes to make this last."

He smiled brightly, "Me too. Me a hundred times over!" He gave her a hug, but suddenly, the thought of them doing their relationship like this for an indefinite amount of time worried him, or even a definitive time, if it was too long.

 _Could_ he do that? _What would that mean for starting a family? No offense to hers, but he didn't want his kids never seeing one of them (likely her, because there was no way that he was living apart from them), but then again, he didn't want to be like his parents and leave them to take care of each other!_ For the first time in a while, Henry realized that _of course,_ Charlotte had been right all along. There was no reasonable way that this relationship could be both what they wanted and also make them both happy… He forced the smile as she went over the menu and took a seat.

.

Henry and Charlotte were bouncing back and forth between their families, their friends and Man Cave work. Mischief Minder was back in the fold, meeting up with them on assignments, but not coming back to the Man Cave as much. Ray had been going to hers, instead, but they made plans for her to finally come clean with Henry about her identity. She told Ray that it was her New Year's resolution.

Charlotte was out with her mom, Siren, and Piper when she saw Mimi, sans glasses, with long blond hair and a Christmas hat. "I'll be back. I think I see someone I know," she said. Whenever she approached, she said, "Mimi?"

The woman turned around and smiled, her Christmas makeup perfect. "Charlotte! Hi! Happy Holidays." Mimi was in a sexy elf costume and carrying a large box that she seemed to be stacking for a display.

"Are… you working here?"

"I've got to pay my bills, Girl."

"Right. Why don't you…" Charlotte lowered her voice and stepped closer, still gearing her group in the background, wasn't sure how voices might carry. "I don't know, work out of the Man Cave? He has the budget to pay you as a regular, instead of a temp."

Mimi stacked another box and shrugged her shoulders, "To me, that's he and Kid Danger's thing. Those two? Unbreakable. I'd never actually get the freedom to do everything that I do now if I was officially on staff. I mean, look at you. All this that you have going for you and you're still putting in drastic hours on your short break from school, and they still see you as the support. YOU. The one who's branching out. How is school, by the way?"

Charlotte cleared her throat, "Excellent. I keep outdoing myself."

"Yet your heart is in Swellview. No thank you, Miss Thing. _I_ want freedom in my life - to travel, see the world, do great things, MAYBE become one of those globally known heros, if I pay the proper dues. I love Captain Man, but you and I both know that he won't ever let anyone outshine him, so anyone not content to post themselves in his shadow can't truly breathe in his midst. I admire your bravery in dating someone tethered to him, to be honest." She was hitting all of Charlotte's weak spots, very casually. Charlotte wasn't going to tell her that. She was simply making small talk and she wasn't the one who brought Ray up... "You know; you should purchase the Santa Baby Christmas Pack that Elizabeth's Enigma is featuring."

"What?" the subject change threw her off, even though they were at Mimi's apparent workplace.

"Comes with a sexy elf costume, (more risque than this one, obviously, this is the one for public promotion), chestnuts to roast on an open fire, mistletoe to hang and get to know somebody a little better, reindeer games (the newest sensual massager, with 9 speeds named for each reindeer. The Rudolph setting glows), a self wrapping Christmas package to wrap yourself in, and a romantic Christmas album featuring the late, great Eartha Kitt's classic hit, Santa Baby, among others. I recommend that one to kick off things."

Charlotte looked at the package and wondered, "What's the smallest size sexy elf costume you got?" After she had her box put into a gift bag, she moved along and reconnected with her group.

"She looked familiar," Piper said, "Do I know her?"

"Probably. It _is_ Swellview," Charlotte answered, shrugging it off and changed the subject, "I just found Henry the perfect gift!"

"Is it an oversized bow to put on yourself?" Siren asked.

"It includes one!" Charlotte boasted.

"That's all he wants, so you _did_ get the perfect gift. I swear, that boy spent everyday from Thanksgiving to the moment your plane landed talking about how he couldn't wait until you got home," she said.

"I thought that I was attached to Charlotte's last boyfriend, but I've really gotten used to Henry," her mom responded to Siren's declaration on Henry's behalf. "I'm going to be extremely sad if he doesn't move away with us after her graduation."

Siren asked, "No kidding! You're moving away? Well, I should talk to Jake about moving, too. We could have the whole family together and Piper will have graduated or dropped out by then, so we'll have no legal obligation to her."

"Mom!" Piper cried out.

"I just meant that we won't have to uproot you, if you don't want to come, Honey. Nothing more."

"If everyone's moving to be closer to Charlotte, of course, I'm coming, too. I'd move closer to Charlotte _without_ the rest of you." Piper rolled her eyes. "Not like Captain Man or Kid Danger will give me my dream job of being on their team. Sexist man-children!"

Charlotte was distracted by the way their mothers were just making plans for her and Henry's future, neither of them knowing that it was probably not going to go down like that. How could it? Mimi had a point… Henry and Ray were a team. They had been a team longer than this version of she and Henry... Henry wanted her to be happy, but she also wanted him to be happy. Sure, she made him happy now, but if he had to stop being Kid Danger, just for her? She wasn't sure what she would do to assuage the guilt. That was why she agreed to however long they had to be long distance. He liked to her. She saw in his face that he wasn't okay with that, but what the heck was the alternative when even a temp could see that he was comfortable with his life. And he deserved that comfort. She'd rather a little distance than close and awkward...

"EARTH TO CHARLOTTE!" Piper yelled.

"What?"

"Is that reindeer shaped vibrator _also_ for Henry?" Siren wondered.

"WHAT?"

"That was just the last question to try to get your attention back. She's back." Her mom asked, "What do you think about your dad and I getting a condo with Jake and Siren, instead of a house? It would put both of your parents in the same place, and your father and I will still be gone enough that our families don't drive each other mad."

"Plus, Jake would always be around to make sure that things are taken care of, so Henry doesn't feel obligated to stop by and do them."

"I honestly feel guilty for having a yard each time that he shows up to take care of it," Esmeralda admitted.

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. It's kind of far into the future, right?"

"Couple of years isn't that far, Char, Baby. Besides, we've been having so much fun with the Harts, that we could live together right now and I wouldn't have a complaint."

"You haven't spent enough time with my dad to accurately make that claim," Piper said.

"It sounds like a lot and Henry and I don't even know where this is going," Charlotte admitted. "We _want_ it to last and I told him that I'll do whatever it takes. But, I'm most likely going to settle closer to Metroburg, because of all the opportunities, but not _within_ Metroburg because of all the supers, and Henry loves Swellview."

"More than he loves you?" her mom wondered.

"We'd have a long distance relationship forever, or for however long it took him to get tired of having one. He's tethered to this place," Charlotte said, for lack of a better word.

"If he's tethered, it's that bizarre junk shop," Siren said. "I'm really trying to convince him to quit, but I don't know what to suggest to him as an alternative."

"I suggested he become a florist," Charlotte said, shrugging her shoulders, trying to remain neutral. Nobody was going to say this was _her_ idea.

Her mom piped in, "Our plants have literally never looked better since he's been landscaping for us."

"He wants to follow in Ray's footsteps," Charlotte offered, still attempting to steer them away from the Henry needs change slant.

"Of being a serial killer," Piper added. Their moms made a face at each other and shook their heads. _That Piper._

"Mr. Manchester seems fine and all, but I doubt he can do the things for Henry that you can," Mrs. Page commented.

"Ezzie!" Siren said and they laughed together, locking their arms. Piper noticed that and did the same with Charlotte. Charlotte just smiled. She had a lot of support in favor of her and Henry. It was too soon to tell them that she and Henry were probably going to always have this unconventional arrangement that they now had. They'd have too many questions and her mother in particular could make her doubt her resolve by bringing in facts and reason.

Plus, she and Henry hadn't even worked out the details. Like the fact that she had every intention of taking her children and their personal nanny everywhere that she went for travel, so that they always have access to her (married or not, this was something that she'd always planned), and she knew that he would have an issue with it, but what was _he_ gonna do? Take them with him on fighting missions? Bring them around Ray _without_ her supervision? She shook her head and cleared her mind. If she wasn't careful, she'd talk _herself_ out of it, and she just declared to Henry TODAY, that she was in for the long haul. She was.

.

As Mischief Minder and Captain Man headed for the crime scene, she casually commented, "I love how supportive you are of Henry moving on. It takes a real man to allow his student to become his own master."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, how Henry is gradually shrinking away from his hero duties, getting more serious about Charlotte, possibly moving away to be with her?"

"Possibly what?" Ray asked, louder than he intended.

"Well, I overheard Charlotte and her family today in the mall courtyard. His parents and hers are all planning on moving to be closer to her, so I simply presumed that he would, too. Forgive me. I didn't catch all the details and probably simply jumped the gun. Nevermind. Henry's here with you. There's no way that he'd leave the hero life to be with his entire family _and_ the woman he loves when he could stay here with his hero and be a hero, even if he's doing less and less of it while he spends more and more time with them, now. Maybe he's spending all of this time with them because he knows that they'll be far away, soon. I'm not a great judge of emotional decisions." Ray's jaw clenched and he beeped Henry.

Henry and Charlotte looked at each other as Work to Do played from his watch. He smiled and gave her a squeeze on the side and stepped outside, while she stuck around for just a moment longer to hear what her dad was saying, then she came out too, but paused when she heard him say, "No, I'm definitely not planning to move away with Charlotte. I don't even know if Charlotte and I are going to…" he sighed, "Make it… So… Calm down. We're doing stuff at her parents, though. Do you need me, or not?"

"Yes! I need you, with your head in the game, ready to do what you _vowed_ to do, right now."

Henry sighed again and nodded, "I'm on my way. Do you need her?"

"Hmph. Why? So she can try to steal Jasper from me too?"

"You've never even wanted Jasper!"

"He's still mine!" Henry disconnected and turned to see Charlotte. He couldn't read her face, so that alarmed him a little bit.

"Hey, Ray needs me." He rolled his eyes. "Think you can cover in there for me?"

She nodded her head, but didn't say anything. _I don't even know if Charlotte and I are going to make it._ There she was, rationalizing to promise to make things work with Henry and he was… giving up already. She was so tired of them forcing this but too weak over him to stop herself. She forced a smile and gave him a hug and a kiss. "Go and save Swellview," she said, stroking his hair and desperately looking into his eyes, hoping to see something to tell her that he was just saying something to Ray. That he _did_ know that they were going to make it and that he was 100 times willing to work on it, like he said. She didn't know what she saw there, but she believed it to be love. She had to believe it.

"You okay, Char?"

"You believe in us, don't you, Hen." He broke eye contact for a moment to actually think it through. She was slightly impressed.

"I believe that we can, but I'm a little terrified about whether or not, we _will._ I try to remain positive, but you've got me in the habit of being realistic and sometimes it seems like they don't meet. Is that okay for me to admit?" He asked, worried. She sighed with relief and nodded. As long as they remained honest, it should be at least easier, though still complicated.

.

Max fed Mimi all of her ammunition and by the time that New Years' Eve rolled around, she felt confident in at least the doubts that she had planted in Charlotte's mind and the jealousy she stirred up in Ray… _But that…_ Might work against her. Ray was being so insufferable about the possibility of Henry leaving that Henry was exasperated with him and did look ready to leave. If Henry left with Charlotte because of her the fallout with Max.

But, then again… _Perhaps_ what Henry needed to know that he wanted to be in Swellview was a break from Swellview. Of she could spin it in a way that Max could envision, she wouldn't be at as much risk with the little psychopath.

So, she decided to try to speak with Henry, next. Ray had told her not to let him know who she was. He was worried that might make Henry feel betrayed and send him rushing thousands of miles away into "Charlotte's sidekick snatching clutches." So, she had to instead come to him as Mischief Minder. "You really are a model boyfriend," she said.

"Yeah, I am," he agreed, earning him an eye roll.

"Don't be _so_ cocky, Mister. You'll find that you might not be as model when she's back home and you're here, being a courageous hero. Do the girls still try to rip off your hero costume when four or more are gathered?"

He sighed, "Yeah."

"And you've been turning them down, every single time?"

"Of course!" He said, indignant. _Every since Thanksgiving, for sure._

"With ease?"

"I'm not going to cheat on Charlotte!"

"That's all I wanted to hear. I have to watch my girl's back. I know how it is when a smart young lady lets herself be swept up by the fantastical ideas of some mediocre man. No offense."

"Full offense."

She didn't acknowledge the offense. "And this is rather different. You're promising her your heart, body and mind. He was simply promising me greatness and recognition. He had high hopes, little follow through. But you _always_ do just what you said you would. And certainly you've had girlfriends before that you remained faithful and dedicated to, which is why Charlotte trusts you _even though_ she'll be out of your sight. She certainly isn't feigning trust to cover up her own lusts. There's only one guy that she might even consider outside of you and she's already told him how she feels. Hopefully, he takes it in. He can be persistent."

"You think he'll try something?"

"Oh, most definitely. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already got a plan in motion…" Henry folded his arms and thought about it. If Max had a plan in motion, it was probably something crafty that he wouldn't see coming. "I'm just hoping that maybe Charlotte backs away from his friendship a little. I know she's a loving person and wants to be loyal to people, but I don't think it's healthy for him, for her to still appear to care. Had she a mean bone in her body, she'd ghost him, full stop."

"She's definitely got mean bones in her body."

"Then, why are they friends?" She asked curiously, not accusing, but she saw the wheels spinning in his head as she kept going, "Does she really trust him not to try to get her back, or not to try to come on to her when he gets her alone?" She shrugged, "He and I are friends, and I don't trust that he'll behave when it comes to her."

Henry nodded, "I don't either. Hey - how did you two meet? No offense, but you look so old, compared to him."

"Some offense…"

He kept going, paying her back for earlier, "...So, I know you didn't go to school together."

"We met when we were villains," was all that she said.

"So, you know both Max and Gwen - two people I absolutely hate. Do you also know Jeff?" he wondered.

"I believe that you and Captain Man introduced me to him during an arrest."

"So, you're not friends?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"So… There _might_ be some hope for you."

"I certainly hope so." The two of them talked a little while longer and Henry actually found that he didn't absolutely hate her. He still didn't trust her, but she seemed to truly care about Charlotte, and that was enough for him to at least try to give her a chance. "I may have jumped the gun in praising Captain Man for allowing you to possibly spread your wings. Ever since I said it, he's been suffocating you."

"This is _your_ doing?"

"I thought that I was giving him a compliment! He's really never going to let you free, is he? And your poor families, all excited to move away."

"What do you mean?"

"Yikes. This is the second time that I've done this. I can't keep this up. Sorry. I'd better go talk to Charlotte…" She went over and he followed right behind her. "Charlotte, I am SO sorry, but I may have stirred up some trouble. I overheard your mothers speaking earlier, about the condo plans and mentioned it casually to Captain Man…"

Charlotte sighed and she held out her hands, "Why, though?"

"I was trying to compliment him!"

"He doubled down on being completely crazy! Do you know that he threatened to zap me unconscious and shave my head in the event that Henry leaves town for me?"

"Henry? Who's Henry?" Henry asked her, folding his arms, exaggerating his costume for her to recall that he didn't want Mischief Minder knowing him. But, she also had just mentioned their mothers, which he didn't notice as Charlotte fussed at her. "Told you she had mean bones. But… What's going on?"

Charlotte pulled him aside to tell him about their mothers' plots while Mimi texted Max: _I think that I have got some things in motion for you. I'll update you at our next meeting._

.

 _The week before Christmas:_

Mimi had been sitting in her car for a few minutes. Max texted her twenty minutes ago: 15 Minutes Cohort. She knew that to mean, "I expect you to be at my lair in no more than 15 minutes, despite the fact that I gave you no fair warning and despite the fact that even when you plan on coming, it's typically a 20 minute drive!" She was only 10 minutes away when she got it, and she spent these 3 minutes trying to emotionally prepare for what she expected to be wrath. It would take her at least 2 to get face to face with him, so she grumbled and got out, cursing herself for letting this happen. He was a 20 something year old child, for crying out loud. But _,_ he was a _super_ , and as of late, honestly unpredictable. He terrified her… And she had _failed_ him.

"Helloooo, Max!" she cheered with false excitement.

"Have a seat, Cohort."

"I'm actually going by Mimi, now. You know that…" She thought that if she asserted herself now that she could fool herself into confidence. But, Max cut off her show of confidence by flicking his finger. A chair slid across the floor and bumped her from behind, knocking her down into it, and she was both seated and not at all confident or assertive. "Wh...What can I do for you, young man?"

"Why is Charlotte spending her winter holiday with Henry, Cohort?"

She cleared her throat, "Um, because he is her boyfriend."

"Do you think that you're funny?"

"Not right now, I don't."

"How did you let them even become involved?" He asked, loudly. "I didn't get you out Minyak's clutches, help you to rebrand and become someone new, and set you up with the Captain Man outfit to not be able to count on you when I need you. I needed you to keep them apart and I thought that you were doing well, then she tells me flat out that she _chooses_ him. Explain it." She stammered, unable to form an answer. "With your words, Cohort."

"I can't get Henry to trust me, because he doesn't know who I am and he distrusts me on that alone. Charlotte isn't at the Man Cave, most of the time, so my access to her is secondhand and limited. The only person there who trusts me IS Captain Man, and there's no possible way to get him to get in the way of them."

"There is, but obviously, you're not smart enough to make it out yourself. I thought you were the brains of the Minyak outfit."

"Please, stop saying outfit," she said, annoyed. Before he could express more displeasure, she said, "I think I know what you need me to do. I'll… make some changes in their… relationship."

"You'd better." A screen came on behind her and she turned to look at the nanotechnology feed that she had planted in the Man Cave for him weeks ago. Charlotte was at the control station, Schwoz was doing something in the back with that little dog of theirs, and Jasper was leaving to go back to the store. Charlotte looked so happy, exchanging banter with Captain Man and Kid Danger while they were on assignment.

"Are… we done, or…?" Mimi started to ask, but Max clasped his hand and shut her mouth. He dialed Charlotte's number and watched as she looked at her phone, stopped smiling, sighed and elected to ignore the call. He looked at Mimi, blinking. He opened his hands, allowing her to speak again."I'll fix it."

"You'd better. I can't think of a single reason that I'd add you to my collection."

"Your collection?"

"Oh! You know, maybe I should have previously showed you this. Probably could have gotten results quicker. Step into my workshop." He said and began to head to a staircase. She groaned. _Why had she even asked? GASP!_

She froze, at the top of the stairs when she saw several villains, arms strung up like puppets as they sat at counters akin to a sweatshop and the puppet sticks attached to machinery above them… "I call it the Dummy Workshop, though I'm on the fence if they're dummies or puppets, if those are interchangeable and whatnot. I feel like a ventriloquist works with dummies and a puppetmaster works with puppets, mmmm but Dummy Workshop is a working title..." He moved his hands to make Dr. Minyak and Gwen wave at Mimi.

"Nurse Cohort! For God's sakes, help us!" Dr. Minyak pleaded.

Gwen was simply exhausted and looked like she was in a lot of pain. "Why? Why do you have Gwen?" Mimi asked, horrified. There was a lot there to be horrified for, many villains in this workshop of his, but seeing her friend, whom she had brought to Max for a similar deal as herself, she was just floored by this and her brain couldn't make her mouth ask every other why that it was forming as she looked at what was basically nightmare fuel for any villainess, even reformed.

"I gave her a chance and she failed," he said, with a shrug. "Check this out! So, I can control them telekinetically, yeah? Of course, BUT - whenever I'm not here, I have a chip in my brain that can take my thoughts and communicate them to this computer system. Let's say I want Gwen to work on a love potion that doesn't need to be baked into a stinkin' muffin. Preferably a cologne format!"

"Every attempt has been poisonous!" she cried as her arms began to do the work, even though her mind and body were both so tired that she would die if she could, just for some reprieve. "Mimi, make him stop! Nobody deserves this!"

"This is sick. Is this… Is this all for Charlotte?" Mimi asked.

He scoffed, and shook his head, like she was a silly child. "This is for the world, but of course, I'm using my resources for Charlotte. All this work I do keeping humanity safe, I should be allowed some personal reward."

"But, why? Why do this to _them_?"

"You know how many times Dr. Minyak has escaped from custody. The laws that are set in place just aren't enough for some people." He stared off into another time and place, "They feel more and more unstoppable with every success. They feel invincible. They become serious threats. They kill." His eyes watered, "Not on my watch."

"Horatio didn't kill anyone!" Mimi said. "Gwen didn't kill anyone! I'm sorry that someone killed your sister, but my friends aren't like tha-" Max clenched his fist and Mimi began to choke. She clutched the stair rail, hoping not to pass out and fall down the stairs or worse - that Max wasn't going to suffocate her to death with simple mind power.

"Stop talking back to me," he said, through his teeth, releasing her to her heavy breathing, then smiled, "Anywhoooo, if you don't find a way to get Henry out and me back in, either what just happened or what's down there is what's in store for you… and like I said, I don't really have any use for you in my collection. Gwen is an excellent chemist, Dr. Minyak, a brilliant inventor of gadgets, if not plans. And you have gifts, but none I need to keep."

He casually stepped over her as she sat on the steps, catching her breath and left, like nothing had happened.

Mimi looked at her phone and saw the texts from days ago from Ray.

 _Sunlight: Hey! We're at Carol Madness. Where are you? Should swing by._

 _Sunlight: Leaving the square, going to the tree farm. They decorate some of the homely ones to make people wanna buy 'em!_

 _Sunlight: Henry and Charlotte are ducking out and the crowd is thinning. I'm starting to feel kinda lonely. You up?_

 _Sunlight: What's up? Did something happen? Are you okay? I'm actually worried. Lol._

 _Sunlight: I'll stop now. I get it._

It stretched for about 6 hours.

 _Now_ , she was calling him back, sad about her current situation, but what was she to do? Die for him? For his team? For those cute kids in love? She was the type of person whose main interest was that of self...

"Mimi?" Ray answered both surprised and a little skeptical.

"Hey, You. Sorry it took so long to get back. Had a friend going through some heavy seasonal affective disorder and I set my phone aside while I was trying to tend to that."

"Playing nurse with someone else, huh?" He teased, but didn't seem mad at her.

"Not like that, at least," she said, smiling genuinely. She'd missed him while she'd been away.

"We missed you around here."

She heard Henry call out in the background, "I didn't!"

"I missed you too. All of you, even Henry," she chuckled, and dropped a few silent tears, "But, especially you."

"Well… Kid Danger and Captain Man have just finished up. I'm available."

"I'm still in Metroburg."

"Metroburg? Ugh. Is this about Thunderman's bum kid?"

"First Christmas without his twin, and Charlotte broke his heart all over again right before she came back home."

"Well, he had it coming. I don't know if you realize, but he's a little turd."

"Be that as it may, he's a friend. So, how is the happy couple?"

"Happy. Doing a lot of grown up sleepovers. It bothers me, quite frankly."

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't tell her my business," she heard Henry saying, then the two of them quietly arguing and Henry say, "She's a friend of Max. You don't share Henry's things with friends of Max."

"Charlotte is a friend of Max! And _she's_ the reason _we're_ stuck with him!" Ray hissed. "Don't roll your eyes. Your girlfriend has bad taste in friends…"

"May I call you when I get back into Swellview?" Mimi asked, interrupting an argument that she knew from experience could last for several more minutes.

"You'd better," Ray said, flirtatiously.

She hung up and started her car. None of this was what she signed up for.


	19. Dangerous Thoughts

_Sorry that I didn't get it out at the end of last week, as intended. But, kinda glad that I get to say "SCHWOZ ACKNOWLEDGED THAT CHARLOTTE IS SMARTER THAN HIM!" I was so fulfilled by that. Next week - The Harts and Pages on Charlotte's turf._

 **Dangerous Thoughts**

It was a lot of pressure. He couldn't tell his family, "I can't leave town, I'm Kid Danger, and therefore, you can't leave town, because I can't come with you and it's weird." None of his arguments about how it was completely irrational for his parents and Char's parents to "shack up" in a condo seemed to break through, because _they're the parents._ He was glad that they were so cool, now, but like… He was overwhelmed.

Ray was honestly acting crazy. Threatening to shave Charlotte's head was just the tip of the iceberg, and Henry let it be known that if he _ever_ touched one hair on Charlotte's head of virtual perfection, there would be hell to pay.

That was one of Henry's favorite things in the world. It was soft and fluffy, and always smelled like island dessert.

She looked like a living flower, with wild, free petals, flowing in the wind and glistening in the sunlight, distracting him like, all of the time.

He loved playing in it and helping her set it at night, and gently grabbing it when she went down… He smiled just thinking about it.

It took him a long time to allow her to even get down there and do _that_. He wanted it, most definitely, but there was a certain sensitivity that he had towards her, specifically, and combined with the fact that Henry Hart was less confident with his performance than Kid Danger was, he worried about looking and sounding weak or stupid while she was down there and actively avoided it whenever she tried. Not too long ago, she simply told him, "I hope that one day you can trust me enough to be vulnerable in front of me and believe that I will still respect you, afterwards." That was all that he needed - that affirmation and validation from her, that it was okay if he squirmed, and whimpered, and moaned like a girl, because that was _precisely_ what he did whenever she… He smiled again. "Do you feel powerful?" he'd asked her after the first time.

"Sort of. I feel _trusted_ , and in my opinion, that's very empowering, when it comes to love."

He decided to try not to get involved in their parents' plans and if anything happened such as… He and Charlotte eventually splitting amicably, they'd still be friends… Friends whose parents live together who would awkwardly have to bring dates home and explain it or something.

So, whenever his parents reminded him that he was up for some vacation time and that he'd better take it to go with them to check out places near Charlotte, he couldn't really get out of it. If Ray refused to let him take one, he'd have two angry moms at Junk N' Stuff to speak to the manager, and Ray already knew that one was a force to be reckoned with.

Ray glared at Charlotte and shook his head, "Henry's mom was perfect before she got all tangled up with yours." She ignored him. "With you…" He thought for a moment, then pointed at her and punctuated, "Prickly Pages."

"Was that supposed to bother me?"

"To at least be annoying."

"You've had that goal in the bag for years."

They set it up for the second week in February, and while that was a ways away for Mimi to report to Max, she convinced him that he'd waited this long and that it was only a short matter of time before he succeeded. Until then, there was work to do.

.

Christmas was excellent. It started out rough for Henry, because he didn't get much sleep, thinking about his parents, Char's impending return to school, Max's probable plan to get her back, Ray actually threatening to fire her and ban her from the Man Cave the previous day, Mimi knowing his family, therefore probably his identity… He heard a woman singing and thought maybe it was from another room, or the TV or something, but when he felt Char's little hands on his skin, he opened his eyes and realized it was some music that she'd put on. "Happy Christmas, Henry," she said and kissed him on the cheek. She had a little kit with her and took the time to… clean his teeth? He would have asked her what was happening, but he knew that this was a morning breath diversion. She was _not_ into that. But… why did he need a clean mouth…? When she moved to discard the supplies, he saw her outfit and every part of him was wide awake. "Char! Char!" She returned, looking alarmed. "What's that that you've got on?"

The elf outfit gave her chest a little push up, and her butt was peeking out of the skirt, but there was a huge bow wrapped around her and covering up her (what he called) his Girlfriend Cream Pie (GCP for wandering ears)… And from his investigation, looked like that bow was all that was covering it up.

"Part of your Christmas present…" He grabbed the bow and unravelled it and yep - just air and opportunity between himself and his favorite treat. He pulled her onto the bed as he laid back, assisting her to make her way to his face, with a broad smile on it. Whatever was bothering him before, he couldn't care less, now.

She had gotten him several presents some practical, some kinda flashy - a heating weighted blanket like the one that helped her sleep alone at night, with her own diffuser technology built into it to evaluate his mood and diffuse the essential oil that would best regulate him for optimal sleep and a massage mechanism that she installed (she was working with diffuser technology in her free time as practice for something she was doing in school). A stylish new jacket and sneakers, that she altered a little bit to look more stylish, a bulky pinky ring with crystals of protection and healing (for her own personal peace of mind), and the box that she'd gotten from Mimi and they spent the entire morning using everything in it.

Afternoon was the Man Cave - Charlotte left after even just a few minutes of Ray's antagonizing. Henry was in a foul mood with Ray for the rest of the time, but she'd insisted that him leaving with her would only make Ray madder and she just wanted it to blow over.

Then, the evening was at the Harts' house. All of Charlotte's gifts were still there, in Henry's room, where he took her by the hand to show her. None of his was scientifically modified or super expensive, but almost everything was carefully selected or custom made. He'd painted a portrait of her, adorned with jewels and flowers. She loved it so much she had to fight off tears. Henry had always been artistic. He once carved Ray's face into a freakin' pumpkin and while he was satisfied with his work, Jasper and Charlotte had to keep reminding him that it was excellent and that he should probably use art as an outlet whenever he had downtime. After his quasi breakup with Charlotte, he took up painting. He'd gotten her a crystal keeping box with Steven Universe character drawings as the placeholders (so, apparently he'd _noticed_ her new fascination with crystals and he had made an art project of it, instead of teasing her about it, like she'd thought he would. It was so sexy to her when Henry paid attention, and still a pleasant surprise. He also got her a gift card to Swatcha Want - a fabric store that was going out of business and everything must go, for cheap. She could stock up on fabric for her fashion hobby! They knew that they probably shouldn't, but another quick round in Henry's bed was definitely in order. It wasn't like they got to see each other all the time. Pretty soon, they would maybe see each other for a week out of the next six months. _Maybe._ She had the official launching of FaceMask and a major project for school that she was about to begin. Henry wound up wondering if it was worst to have all of this time with her, then have to let her go again for so long. When they were together, they spent a lot of time being physical to make up for all the time they were apart, but it never seemed like enough at the end of the trip.

.

New Year's Eve was her last party night for a while. As long as she rang the year in with Henry and her friends, she was happy. Ray had finally calmed down, so she got to feel like her haven was just that again. He really drove the nail into the coffin that it was absurd that he got so mad at her when _EVERYONE KNOWS_ that Henry would never pick her or anyone else over his sweet hero life.

After New Year's Day, she was headed home, he was trying not to cry in front of her. She was all holidayed out and just wanted to get back to the lab to work on some kind of air conditioning diffuser system. _The lab. With Max._ She was all too excited about it. He hadn't been available for weeks before her break, but now that he was back, they might get to hang out again! Okay, so what she said was, "With Max back in town, he can be an additional pair of eyes for my work," but Henry heard it as excitement about seeing someone who 3 weeks ago told her that he might be a douche because she had a boyfriend now.

"Don't you have other science friends?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

"Yes. But, he has the best lab of anyone that I know and my work is already there. I'm still trying to build my own lab and probably won't have that happen at least for another year. But, if I play my cards right this semester, Prince Akuchi is willing to give me a grant for my own research!"

"That's slightly worse than Max being your source of resources."

"We all need support, Henry. Right now, my best support as far as lab work is concerned is Max, and it's gonna be way more stressful for me than it should be for you. I'm the one who dumped him _and_ confirmed that I chose somebody else. I'm going to have to wonder if he's gonna get fed up with me and kick me out before my work is complete."

"I'll kick out his stupid face," Henry muttered.

"Awwww," was all she said in response.

He did his typical pining in the airport, watching her plane leave, and driving home in almost complete silence. She'd loved her Christmas gift, but he wondered if she loved it as much as Max's. His news about being able to be around for backup when she got back home. Henry was fuming about it, but knew if he made too much of a big deal about it, it might make things hard between he and Char and that'd be just what that smug snot wanted.

.

To make matters worse, Henry didn't get a chance to make it to the FaceMask release, so hoards of heros kept thinking that she and Max were back together. It was buzz all over the new site and as irrational as it might be, Henry reactivated his SoulDates account to have access to the forums and obsess over the Pagemaster and Thunderman reunion rumors. "Thundermaster Lives!" "My fave supership!" "This is the science bros turned true love that we deserve, tbh." He was glad that Charlotte never unmasked outside of secret Metroburg events, because these people were a little bit crazy, not only for shipping her and Max, which he never saw it for, personally, but they would say things like, "I would kill everyone in the room to see them kiss!" He logged out, alarmed.

Charlotte eased his mind later that night, but the couple of hours on video call with her were all ruined by the time she announced that she needed to detox and wind down and he heard Max's voice somewhere in her hotel room. "Is Max there, with you?"

"Yeah. He's getting ready to head home so that he can be alert when we have to get into the lab tomorrow."

"Okay…" He bit his lip and his tongue not to say anything about how uncomfortable it made him that their friendship didn't seemed to have suffered any blows from the conversation they had before winter break, but she already looked exhausted, and she was gathering up her stuff for spa bath and bed rest. It wasn't a good time, and technically, Max hadn't _done_ anything that he knew of. "Well, I'll be thinking about you all night, probably not getting any sleep because I missed such an important date for you."

"You know that I understand, Hen."She said and reached out, forgetting for a moment that they couldn't touch through screens. She awkwardly withdrew her hand and fought off a sad expression. "You had more important things to do tonight. Swellview needed you." She wasn't going to point out that he'd once ditched an emergency for dinner with Bigfoot, but she wasn't mad at him for not being able to make it. She was just… hyper-aware of the type of disappointment that they would have to deal with in this long distance situation. She smiled, though. It was what she'd signed up for, if she was gonna have her Henry. "So, goodnight?"

"Goodnight, Baby. I love you."

"Love you too, Hen."

.

FaceMask was excellent! She actually had a team now, due to the previous success with networking on SoulDates, so applications for anonymous profiles tripled with this release, and they included spaces for the market of antiheroes and vigilantes - something that was often complained about on SD, because of the privilege of supers in the super communities to be able to work within the system, versus those who had to do what they had to do for general safety (and she agreed, shouldn't be demonized for it). And, they had functions that had only previously been spoken about through SD, such as the SOS GPS, which had to be activated by the hero in danger and treated the app like those hookup with locals things… but the hookup would be a rescue. Heroes raved about it. Max only wished that they'd had the kinks worked out when Phoebe was still here.

Things could not have been going any greater for Charlotte, to be honest and it was so good to be able to chill with Max again. He seemed happy and he seemed healthy. He seemed like her old cinnamon roll, though she knew that they were just friends and she'd never walk that line again, as long as she had Henry. She was grateful for the restoration of the friendship, the work rapport, and the increased time spent together, now that his vendetta was either over, or he was over it. She was waiting for him to tell her details, and if he never did - she wouldn't pressure him. She still loved him and cared about him, just in that amicable way.

Henry didn't trust it. His mind began to swarm with all kinds of theories about Max being awful and how he might prove it to Charlotte, with at least some proof.

.

Captain Man and Kid Danger wanted to talk with the Spoiler about his findings of Max's computer. Sure, he taunted them with a bunch of Char porn, but he had to have at least seen one thing that was something else and also suspicious. But, the incident became more curious whenever they couldn't find him in the Swellview prison. They gave a description, his name as they knew it, the date he was apprehended… "Oh! That guy. Yeah, he only spent about a night in jail, then he was snatched by some pretty powerful suits."

"What pretty powerful suits?" Kid Danger asked.

"Some…" he checked his paperwork, "Hero League. They had all kinds of official documents to take the kid to Metroburg for processing."

They left and Kid Danger was pissed, "Max had to have done something. We were fools to think that he'd let the Spoiler live after that. If we can prove he did something terrible to him, probably killed him, we can put him away."

"I don't know Kid, is The Spoiler worth it?"

"Charlotte is currently cooped up in a lab for hours with a possible homicidal maniac with a list of superpowers and a jones in his bones for her!"

"I mean, I know, but… Leilani's in town. She and Mimi were gonna come over for some group relaxation…"

"If we can find corruption in the upscale heroes of Metroburg, it may boost our budget. They might make a movie about you."

"Captain Man, the Mantastic Movie?" Captain Man cheerfully asked.

Kid Danger made an incredulous face, "Sure."

"We've gotta get to the bottom of this."

.

Max was in full hero suit, speaking to a motley looking group, with makeshift hero suits on and doing so very adamantly, until he spotted Captain Man and Kid Danger approaching. "Now, take five. Think about harnessing…" He smiled at them and met them halfway, "You two finally decide that you want to branch out and become real heroes?" Captain Man stepped forward, ready to punch him in the face. Max smirked, amused as Kid Danger held his hero back.

"Take a walk, Captain Man! I can handle this." Captain Man muttered and stormed off, to pace.

"He really should be called Captain Manchild…"

"Hey! Nobody gets to make Manchild jokes except for his inner-circle."

"I wasn't joking. Why are you here? I have a lot of V-Force work to do."

"I'm here because, I'm sorry, V-Force?"

Max smiled, "This entire facility is my current baby. I stepped down from T-Force (which was formerly known as Z-Force and is still called that sometimes, because of the clout the name had). After Phoebe was gone, it was difficult to run things without her. So, I entrusted others to do so and I keep an eye on it to make sure that they don't fall into the same corruption that the leaders before did. But, I've focused all of my energy on V-Force. V-Force is the official training of vigilantes - which I like to call "active hero hopefuls," and the resetting of known villains. But, I'm sure that you didn't come to talk to me about any of my huge accomplishments as a superhero."

Now, Kid Danger was ready to punch him in the face. Instead, he asked, "What happened to the Spoiler, Max?"

Max furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean, what _happened_ to him?"

"I had to ask him some questions about a case and he was no longer in the Swellview prison that Captain Man and I dropped him off at.

Max laughed, "Of course he wasn't! Do you really think that Metroburg's forces would let someone with his deviance be handled by Swellview for a _second_ time? He got better while locked up with you. We weren't going to risk that. What case do you need his insight on?"

"Some Swellview business. Where is he, if he's alive?"

Max's eyes widened. "If he's… Okay. Look, Henry… I _know_ how you feel about me, but this is such a wild accusation that I shouldn't even dignify it with a response. But, since I love both hearing myself talk and proving somebody else wrong, here I go! The Spoiler is alive, and he is being kept in a maximum security Metroburg location, unable to wreak havoc. If you want to speak to him, you have to make a request - which you just did, then, you have to _wait_ until I produce him for you, because you aren't allowed to enter the area that he is kept and there is very limited access to him. I can contact you when he's ready for your questioning."

"Okay. I guess when I see him alive, I'll believe it."

Max looked frustrated now, "Is this your plan to keep Charlotte? To label me some type of murderer who kills criminals instead of locking them up? Me? The guy who spends most of his time rehabilitating criminals?" He smiled, still aggravated, "You're gonna have to do better. Charls sees me in action, all of the time. Sometimes, she brings a picnic here. Good luck convincing her of whatever is going through your small, average brain…" Now it was Captain Man's turn to intervene. He came back just in time enough to keep Henry from punching Max in the face.

"Now, I didn't hold him back because you didn't deserve it. I held him back because I have a group relaxation thing later and I really don't want to get tied up with any kind of bureaucratic hero things if we have to lay you and all of these superzeroes on their backs…"

"Superzeroes?" Max repeated. He smirked. "Cute. Juvenile, but witty."

"Why you little…" Captain Man stepped forward and suddenly was kept from Max by a forcefield. Wth? He didn't have forcefield power! Captain Man and Kid Danger looked over and saw a small boy holding onto the field around Max and glaring at them.

"Easy, Buddy," Max said and picked up the boy. He dropped the forcefield and hugged Max, "Sorry about that. The people here are kinda grateful to me for their second chances. Kinda protective." He gave the boy a tousle in his hair and set him down, "Go have playtime. Your dad's about to restart training, okay?" The boy nodded and rushed off. "Anywhooo… I'll contact you whenever I have The Spoiler available for questioning."

CM and KD watched him walk away and call his trainees back into formation.

"Every time I see that kid, he's creepier!"

"He was super nice and still read like a complete psychopath."

"Why can't somebody as smart as Charlotte _see_ that? She's observant and attentive. _We_ can't be the ones that are wrong."

"He's charismatic… You see the cult like way that kid just jumped into a fight for him, without even being told to do it? He's giving a chance to villains and vigilantes, because he already knows that they're willing to break rules and do things that nobody reasonable would."

"Why did someone bring their kid to this?" CM wondered.

"Oh - I know this! Because vigilantes and villains alike both usually have limited access to resources and are oftentimes of oppressed communities, despite what superhero mythology would have you believe. The privileged lacing up and fighting for good is actually only in rare cases and just propaganda of respectability politics, with a superhero angle."

"This is some Charlotte babble."

"I've had to start listening to her, because she'll talk to you about things that she's already explained before, but she talks to you like you'd listened before."

"I don't listen to anything she says."

"I know. You're not a good friend, to be honest."

"Who could be a good friend to somebody so sanctimonious?"

"Dude!"

...

After Max returned to his lair, he checked the Spoilers' vitals and telekinetically gave him an IV as he spoke through the speaker, "Good news, Spoiler. Captain Man and Kid Danger want to see you. This is a perfect opportunity for you to earn some reprieve." The collection turned slightly to glance at him. "If you don't draw any suspicion and if you give them every nugget of info I feed you, I might move you to a cell." Gwen gasped. _SHE_ wanted a cell. Anything was better than the dummy storage rack. "So, tomorrow, you'd better look alive." Max left the staircase and the lights went off for them.

.

The Spoiler looked like a completely different person. He looked worn out and pale, but he came along with his usual wit and overall creepy annoyingness. Kid Danger looked at Max, "We'd like to talk to him alone, please?"

Max raised an eyebrow and nodded, but pointed at him, "Okay, but if he comes back with any bruises, President Kickbutt will be in contact with The Mayor of Swellview."

"OOoooh!" KD and CM taunted, mock shivering. Max rolled his eyes, gave The Spoiler one last warning look and left them.

"Can I see that phone? Looks new. They don't let me handle any tech in here," was the first thing that the Spoiler told them.

Danger had questions though, " I will let you see my phone after you've told me a few things."

"Fire away. I don't have anything useful to say."

Kid Danger got close to him, to whisper, in case Max was monitoring. "Blink your eyes once if you're in danger."

The Spoiler laughed. "Why, what would you be able to do about it? I don't know if you know this, but Thunderman is a pretty big deal."

"So, you are in danger of Thunderman!" Captain Man practically shouted.

"No! No! I didn't say that and I never would say that. I was just pointing out that this is frivolous. You two aren't even really heroes. You reside in one town and you didn't even take me down the first time. Two girls did. Two girls were more heroic than you in the cinema, that day." He laughed and Captain Man reflexively punched him in the face. "Uh oh. You're destroying Metroburg property," he teased. "Hit harder. I almost felt something." Another swing was about to be taken, but Captain Man's fist stopped just short of The Spoiler's face and he looked around. "Looks like the PuppetMaster saw you about to go back on your word."

"The who?" Kid Danger asked. The Spoiler's eyes widened. Why had Max thought he'd be alright to speak with them? He was terrible at secrets. He _had_ to spill and spoil anything he had access to.

"Nothing. I'm very tired. Thunderman is a good hero. He is helping me turn my life around and I don't know what else you want from me. Can I go now?" He sounded unenthused. He whispered, "Clearly, he's monitoring." He looked around, paranoid, unsure of where the nanotech was, and unsure if Max had automatic weapons at the ready, or what. He had been in his dungeon for months. He was surprised that he could still form words. "Oh!" he'd almost forgotten the rest of his nuggets, "Also, I'm lucky to be alive. I could have been killed, but instead, Thunderman showed me mercy and is helping me to be a better person, so that I can someday use my incredible gifts for good." Kid Danger rolled his eyes and handed him the phone. If he had anything incriminating to say, he wasn't gonna do it. Max either had him scared or under his spell. At any rate, he was right - Max appeared to be monitoring them. Ray certainly hadn't stopped himself from punching a second time. "This is an amazing phone," The Spoiler said and handed it back to Kid Danger. "I can hardly wait to have technology again."

Kid Danger put his phone away and buzzed Max, "We're done here."

Whenever he came in, he wondered, "Did you get everything that you needed from him?"

"He didn't know anything."

Max nodded, "He plays stupid. He knows more than he lets on. If you fill me in, I might be able to coax out of him whatever you're looking for."

"No thanks. But, thanks for giving us a shot at speaking to him."

.

That went nowhere, so Henry just let it go, for now. Charlotte was working hard, playing when she could and his family and hers were about to be hanging. Shortly before the trip, though, her Twitflick feed had an event on it, which he referred to as "The last time I get to have some real fun for a while!" And he felt a little insulted that she would say that right before his arrival, but he knew that she meant that she had important projects coming up. The feed itself, though was mind-blowing.

She, Max, the younger Thundermans and PIPER had gone to the Cheyenne and Double G World Tour and gotten backstage passes. There were photos of them all hanging out with both musical artists, and the Game Shakers were there. Charlotte looked amazing and like she was having the time of her life. Why hadn't she or Piper mentioned this?

"Whoa - I feel left out. I wanted to see Double G and Cheyenne!" Henry commented with sad and angry emojis.

Charlotte quickly replied, "I wanted you to, too. But, everytime I tried to ask you if you wanted to come, you had an emergency and eventually, we scored the tickets without you. I'm sorry. The Game Shakers are all asking about you and I got Cheyenne to autograph some things. Love ya!"

He glared. "Love ya? Love YA? That's not a real I love you and so what if I had emergencies because crime in Swellview has for some reason been insanely high? She should have texted me about it, at least!" He searched his texts and it highlighted several references to the concert. She _had_ texted him about it, but he'd gotten so busy that he'd forget to reply about it. He cursed himself. "Still, that doesn't mean she had to go with MAX! And _Piper?_ Such a betrayer. She knows the history between…" Piper went live and he watched as she and Charlotte danced backstage with Cheyenne while Double G was performing. "They are HANGING OUT with Cheyenne?"

Now, he was texting Charlotte.

 _Henry: Hanging out with Cheyenne looks fun._

 _Charlotte: Loads. This was such a good getaway. It stinks that you couldn't find the time for it. (Saddy faces)_

 _Henry: So, you invited Max instead._

 _Charlotte:... No. Piper and I just happened to get seats right by Max and his younger siblings. It was purely coincidental. And Triple G remembered me and Piper, invited us backstage and let us bring the Thundermans with us, because why would I shut out these kids that I know when Max and I are indeed friends? You're getting a little offensive._

 _Henry: Okay, and you went backstage and to Cheyenne instead of Double G?_

 _Charlotte: We met up with both! Cheyenne actually had met Max and Phoebe before and she was gonna call security when she saw him (so funny how it happened) but his younger siblings told her about Phoebe dying and how this was the first time that Max had taken them out since and she was all choked up and dedicated a song to Phoebe._

 _Henry: Sounds magical._

 _Charlotte: It was. Until you got mad at me. Are we gonna be okay?_

 _Henry: Sure. Enjoy yourself. I'm not mad. Just disappointed that I keep missing out on things with you, over Smellview._

 _Charlotte: I'm gonna try to find a quiet area and call you._

 _Henry: No! Finish enjoying yourself. Sorry to interrupt._

 _Charlotte: Okay, I can't tell your tone via text, so I'm calling you to make sure this isn't rage or sarcasm…_

 _Henry: I promise, it's not!_

She called anyway. "There's a concert happening. There are no quiet spots," she laughed.

"You should get back to enjoying that."

"I can't, now. You pointed out how we used to be able to enjoy things together. Now, every since I left, we don't get a chance to as much. And I hate that, Hen. Everything I do is funner with you there. Wanna hear the funny story about Max and Cheyenne?"

"Definitely…" She replayed how Max hacked a system to win a contest, pretended to be a DJ and how his best friend set up him and Phoebe to ruin Cheyenne's show. It was a mess and Henry was cracking up, but something occurred to him… Max _was_ a hacker. He was excellent with computers and obviously not above self serving tactics. _Coincidence, my little butt! He TOTALLY planned to be next to Charlotte and Piper._ He was getting a little bit crazy in his theories, but just because he couldn't prove them didn't mean that they weren't accurate! Whenever he and Charlotte got off of the phone, he watched her enjoying the rest of her night online, until he and Ray had to go to work again. Ugh.


	20. Unmasked

_Special shout out to the anon who gave me one of the songs that I listened to while writing this - Just a Little Bit by Masego and DeWayne Jackson (It is now on the Family Danger Spotify Playlist, thank you very much). Also, while not on the playlist, I also listened to these other songs (This was a long and very emotionally driven chapter for me) - Never Be Like You by Flume ft. Kai, Didn't We Almost Have It All by Whitney Houston, and Hurt by Christina Aguilera._

 _Edit: So, for some reason, I thought I read August 28 as the Charlotte's birthday episode, but it was actually April 28, which makes her a Taurus. So, I changed it to that and fortunately, since both are earth signs, I can still spin it right. Y'all probably don't even care about that ish, but I hate loopholes and stuff._

 **Unmasked**

Her parents were used to it, so the fact that Charlotte really didn't have time to do anything with them during their visit didn't come as a shock to them. Henry's family was a little bit more concerned, but only because they had never been around her while school was in progress. Henry expected as much, but still kinda hated it. Though, as long as she was going to be curled up in bed with him at the end of her night, he would be fine. He'd been worried about them every since his suspicions about Max had began to stir. Max and Charlotte seemed to be in the same space that they were in shortly before he found out that they were dating, and he just didn't like it.

But, once their families got into town, Charlotte didn't change her routine one little bit to accommodate their presence. She had already told them that she simply couldn't. So, early in the morning, she woke up, fixed an herbal tea, meditated, did some yoga stretches, had a light breakfast of fruit and oatmeal, checked on her emails, washed up, did her face and hair and hit the road on her bike to get to class. After her classes, she went immediately to Max's lab (he usually picked her up, or she ordered a car), and checked on her projects.

She got home, did any additional homework or studying that she had to do, checked on her apps, then unplugged to unwind with music, diffusers, her nighttime face and hair routine and a long shower. She ate, brushed her teeth, logged back on for a little bit of social media (sometimes), and went to bed either with one of her college books or with a vibrator. Every now and then, she brought both.

But, with Henry in town, he insisted on crashing at her apartment and what was she going to do? Refuse? Whenever he let her stay at his house any time she visited Swellview? Even though she had a routine by herself, she had someone in the space during that before - Max. And if she told Henry no, she'd never hear the end of that little fact.

Henry tried to be helpful, tried to make her breakfast, but, "I can't have that kind of stuff on a school morning. I need my body clean and light, to really focus. This is the kind of stuff that I love whenever there's a holiday, though." She offered him a smile and kissed him on the top of the head, leaving all the greasy meats, cheesy eggs, and delicious potatoes for him to pack up for his folks, he guessed. Tried to make her a healthy dinner that wasn't too heavy, as well, but… "Oh, I'm sorry, Hen. I usually either eat before I get home, or way after I've had the chance to unwind… And my regular diet is actually vegan, right now. I only ever break it whenever I'm in town with you all, and sometimes on the weekends when I have a little seafood." She winced as she smiled, noticing Henry's disappointed face for the second time in one day.

He tried to see if she needed any help with any of her unwind process, but felt like he was annoying her or getting in her way, so he simply retired to her circle couch and played on his phone for a while.

"This thing sucks. It's a brand new phone. Why is it giving me problems?" He wondered, mostly to himself. After a while, Charlotte found him there, still tinkering around on it and she smiled fondly at him. He was so adorable, with his frustrated focus face. "Like, Christmas was a couple of months ago, but this phone has been a pain almost the whole time I've had it!"

"Want me to take a look at it?" She wondered. He looked up, so excited to finally be acknowledged by her. That hurt her feelings a little, or rather, made her feel guilty about shunning him, whether or not that was what she'd meant to do… "Um, I can fool around with it while you maybe set my hair for the night?" She shrank a little as she asked, as though bracing herself for rejection.

"I'd love to!" He rushed over, and handed her the phone and followed her to her mirror, which they both were facing as he set her twists for a twist out the next day. It was important to him to feel needed, so while she might have thought that he was doing her a favor, this was completely self serving for Henry, plus, he got to play in her hair.

Charlotte power cycled the phone, check out some apps, the settings, a number of things before saying, "I think it needs to be scanned for bugs. Get Schwoz to do it as soon as you get back and don't discuss any Man Cave things with it."

"Why? What do you think happened?"

"I think you've been hacked or something."

"My… phone? That's a thing?"

"Yeah, and Schwoz has a device that can tell you everything about the hacking job.. IF that's even what happened. Can't be too careful. You don't have any photos or videos of me, do you?"

"You know that I definitely do."

"I mean… ones that could harm me?"

"No. After what the Spoiler did, I'd never trust having record of you like that in the universe." He paused and thought about the Spoiler. He had given _him_ his phone, but could he have really done anything that quickly? Maybe he'd just altered it to annoy him by being slow and glitchy… He didn't want to te Charlotte that he did something so silly. He'd just avoid anything too private and get Schwoz to handle it when he got home.

Whenever she climbed into bed with her college book, he went to get cleaned up for the night and by the time he got back, she was asleep. He wrapped himself around her, cradled her to him and stayed awake for quite a while, just holding her and wishing that he felt more secure about them. If anything, being a part of her regular environment gave him even more doubts.

Since January 1st, he had been making sure that he sent her flowers every single day. She'd joked that she barely had time to enjoy them before more came. By the time he visited, she had several vases of dead flowers, (though she did preserve at least one of each, or their petals in an album that she bought specifically to do so), she had several dying flowers in her apartment, and she had a bouquet on her desk, one next to her bed, and one in her living room which all were currently healthy. Henry got rid of all of the dead flowers for her and whenever she got home and saw that, she seemed upset. She wasn't sure _why_ she wanted to hold on to them for as long as she could, and she realized that her apartment kinda smelled of dead flowers, but Henry had picked those out _for her_ and she felt a little sensitive about him throwing them out. Even though he knew that their time was done, he felt bad seeing her face fall whenever he told her that he did her the favor of clearing out the ones that couldn't make it.

Meanwhile, whenever she went to class and he went exploring with his family and hers, they would ask how she was doing and he didn't have much information. Was that how it would be if they _were_ together, together? Never seeing her. Seeing her only to find that they didn't communicate as much as he thought… How did he _miss_ that she was eating vegan? That was usually announced, especially to those who cook for you sometimes! He felt kind of left out of her life and wondered if she was taking them as seriously as she had said. Then everything just went off the rails.

Henry was planning Valentines' Day. He knew that it would be a short lived celebration, but it was their first together and he needed a win. She was usually home before Midnight, but left pretty early in the morning, so he wanted to celebrate at Midnight, and in the morning - some time in that little window that he'd have, because he was pretty positive that she wasn't taking VDay night off.

He researched vegan recipes, he selected the perfect flowers for her bouquet, he got her what he knew would be appreciated gifts… and then she never came home. The text he got that she was going to the lab was around it's usual time between 6 & 7 pm, but the general four or five hours she usually took turned into 6, then 7. It was after 2 am and he hadn't heard anything from her.

He called her, several times, called her parents, called Piper - none of them had heard from her. He rushed to the lab, freaking out the entire time, and trying not to, because there was nobody there to calm him down…

He banged on the door and called out, "Charlotte! Char, are you here?" The door opened and he came inside. "Char?" Max was seated in a chair, in front of a computer and had obviously telekinetically opened the door. "Where is she?" Henry asked. Max spun in the chair and gave Henry a small smile, then beckoned him with his hand and got up. Henry followed him to the lab and there she was, safe and sound and working. Henry almost lost his mind, "Charlotte!" he fussed. "You didn't come home and you didn't even CALL? I thought something had happened to you? Are you kidding me?"

Her eyes were wide with shock at his entrance and his tone, but he had a point. She neglected checking in, and she probably should have. "I'm sorry. I had a breakthrough on my experiment and I guess that I lost track of time. I didn't mean to worry you. I keep forgetting that you're in town…" She probably shouldn't have admitted that last part. She tried to save herself. "I did send you my 'hashtag labbound' text… I take it that's how you knew to come here to find me…"

"I came here after I couldn't reach you any other way!"

"I'm sorry, once again. I didn't mean to worry you." She looked completely embarrassed as she turned to Max and said, "I'm gonna head home, I guess."

"Aren't you gonna show him what you managed to do?"

"He doesn't care about stuff like that," she said, shaking her head and grabbing her bags.

"Actually, I'd LOVE to see what kept you away from home for all these hours when you have class in the morning and are very, very punctual!"

She tightly smiled and nodded her head. She actually had spoken to her all of her professors about taking the day off (only of they would excuse her, which they all did) SO THAT she could surprise him and spend Valentine's Day with him, but he was already angry, so she simply kept her peace and showed him.

"This is my prototype. Put your hand on the black screen." He sighed and did so and it began to scan and numbers flashed across the control panel. "Tonight, I managed to get it to finally scan correct readings for body temperature, pulse, and blood pressure. Haven't gotten the brain waves yet, but I know I'll get it soon."

"Didn't you tell me that you were working on an air conditioner? Or diffuser? Why would it be scanning my vitals?"

"Patience, Hunk." The black screen lit up and had characters on it, but not words. "Haven't programmed all the oils in but when I do, this screen will tell you what temperature, what power setting, and what oil blend it is matching with your vitals, to give you the most comfortable air experience."

Henry smiled and said, "Smells like lavender and chamomile, maybe? Something else. I can't tell…"

"Eventually, it'll tell you AND, you'll be able to save matches, for if you just want to manually have this type of vibe in your home."

Henry smiled, starstruck at his intellectual. "Baby, you are amazing. This is a brilliant idea. I mean - it's gonna cost a lot for anyone to own, but you could be swimming in money. This is for a CLASS?"

"Well, of course I'll try to move forward professionally with it, but yes - this is currently for a grade. I'm really sorry that I was too caught up in it to reach out to you." He shook his head. He felt bad for how he'd reacted. It was an innocent mistake because she was probably elated about a big break in her project, and now _he_ felt bad for how he handled it. "Ready to go home?" She wondered, with that look in her eyes that usually meant she was ready to get a bit of Danger in her. He nodded and took her hand.

.

Henry's joy with her having an off day for them to spend time together was very short lived. Almost immediately after breakfast, which was after morning sex, which was after gift presentation, an alarm sounded in her apartment. She ran to her in home mini lab and looked at her Project Progress Panel. Before Henry could even ask what was happening, she was on the phone with Max, "PLEASE tell me that you're at or near the lab!"

"Wish I could. What's the deal? Is that the PPP Panic alarm?"

"Yes! I'm heading to the lab "

"It'll take me a while, but I'll get there when I can." She was dressing when they were still on the line.

"Something wrong, Char?"

"My AC has run into a technical issue that has knocked it off course for my completion deadline goal!" She said, forcing herself into her jeans. "Whatever gas happened can be destroying my work as we speak."

"I'm sure it'll be okay," he said, getting into his pants, as well. "You're so smart and work so hard. You can fix whatever it…" she was heading for the door. Ummm… did she plan on driving herself? He grabbed his shirt, shoes and keys and rushed out after her, "Hey, Char.. I'm taking you, right?"

She looked at him incredulously, "I can't walk there, Henry! Why aren't you already dressed? You have hyperfreakingmotility!" Her hands were shaking as he just remembered this little fact for himself and rushed as she got into the backseat and began to plug in various devices, to see what she could find out about her baby on the way. She to herself a lot as he drove. Things like, "I knew that the cooling system needed a different adjustment to accommodate that much mist," and "I'll bet I froze the filtration center!" Also, cuss words, but she whispered those.

.

Charlotte was freaking out big time, rushing about trying to check things and fix things and things. Henry wanted to say something comforting to her, but couldn't think of anything. "Char, it'll be okay."

"So you keep saying even though you don't know anything and have no idea what you're talking about. Why don't you play around on some apps or something that you can actually do?"

He chuckled, a little crestfallen and mumbled, "Somebody's got a mean streak. Look at this photo of a puppy my mom saw yesterday, that'll help you cheer-"

"GET OUT OF THIS AREA WITHOUT PROTECTION! THEY TAUGHT US THAT IN SIXTH GRADE, HENRY! SIXTH GRADE!" He rushed out and she pursed her lips and shook her head. "Why don't you just go wait outside or go for a drive or something? I'll get a car home." He was about to contest, but he saw those eyes and knew she was in no condition to argue with him.

"Is there a crystal I can get from your place or something that might help you chill?"

"Chill? CHILL?" She exhaled, and focused on what was in front of her.

"I just mean, if I'm reading your projection plan screen thingy right, even though this problem has put you a few hours behind your personal deadline, the project is actually due way after that…"

"Henry, if I wanted pointless advice, I'd have conversations with Ray. I don't need assurance from somebody with a C average who still decided to take a week off from school. We're not the same when it comes to these things and in the time that you're _helping_ me, my estimated time of completion has increased by 17 MINUTES!" Whenever Char screamed, she squeaked and it was usually as cute as it was audibly annoying, but that entire explosion of words cut Henry down and crushed his feelings.

"Sorry, I've only made things uncomfortable since I've been here. I'll wait outside…" the relief on her face when he said that actually hurt him more than a those slips of the tongue that she didn't hold back. _So, that's how she really feels._ He'd been fooling himself. Buying all of her "Love you just the way you are," propaganda. She thought he was an idiot, sounded like she thought he was lazy… she definitely didn't feel like they we're equals… he was running all of the worst possible opinions through his mind and heart when Max pulled up and got out of a car that the doors went up instead of out, and shut by themselves.

"Hello, Henry. Uh oh… Charls is on a warpath, isn't she?" He stood next to Henry and observed project stats before coming in. "You know… looking at the diagnostics, it won't take her more than a couple of hours, 4 at the most to get this stable." Henry wished he had some type of distraction, but his phone was still all buggy and defective apps would only make him more upset.

"Yeah, well." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Can you help me get this stuff inside? It's not for her project, but…"

"Yeah, I'm not busy."

They grabbed some boxes and Max continued, "She must've really gave it to you. This is the most silent that I've ever witnessed you be."

" Yeah, well," Henry repeated and added nothing.

"One thing to try to remember is that she's an overachiever, she has grants on the line, she has never worked on a project this big, and she's a fricken Taurus." Henry furrowed his eyebrows. Surely a scientist like Max didn't subscribe to such junk. "Add in a possible problem with her personal work and it's a recipe for whatever she said or did to gave you out here staring at my neighbor's beagle."

"It's a cute beagle." Henry shrugged. "Hey. You said Char is a Taurus. How did you know that?"

"Because I know her birthday."

"No, I mean… Taurus stuff. I don't know anything about that. I don't even know anything about mine."

"Uh, you're a Scorpio, firstly. And the reason that I know Charlotte's is because she needed somebody who wasn't gonna make fun of her to bounce off how freaked out she was about her natal chart a short while back, when Ezmo sent her one for her birthday."

"I'm sorry, Ezmo? Are.. are you calling Charlotte's mother Ezmo?"

"Yes. She said I could."

Henry was aggravated but continued, "What's a natal chart?" But by that time, they were nearing the lab and Max was setting down his box, so Henry followed suit. Then, Charlotte said the most infuriating thing that she possibly could have (which was impressive, considering the terrible things she'd said before."

"Max! Thank God. Finally, somebody useful." She'd said it more to herself and maybe even didn't expect Henry to hear her, but she _had_ said it! At this point, Henry was actually ready to cry. That shit was extremely hurtful. Max even looked like he felt sorry for him as he grabbed his protective gear.

"Hey.. she didn't mean that. I'm sure it's just nerves and anxiety. When she gets this way, you know how it can be. She's working for hours and hours, visualizing a goal so much she can almost feel herself in that moment. You also know that once she works it out, she's the sweetest thing and feels awful for whatever she let come out."

"I don't. I've never seen her have a problem with her work. I… Never had an interest in the things that really mattered to her until recently." He sighed. "But, if this is normal work mode for her…" _It wasn't when she worked in the Man Cave, but then again, that was always temporary. That was some stepping stone. That was the little people who helped to get her into a super lab, being considered for a prince's grant._

"I'll have her back to normal in no time." Max said. Henry sat at the desk and got onto his phone, instead of going back outside, for a while. He wanted to see for himself. He _didn't_ see what Max was talking about, at all. In fact, he saw the opposite.

He saw Charlotte speaking, interacting, working with Max in a way that he had never seen her mesh with anyone. They practically read each other's thoughts. The synergy was effortless and a few times, Max telekinetically moved things from and for her. It was almost beautiful. It _was_ beautiful, but Henry hated it, because when Char was at her worse and having issues, _Max_ knew how to accommodate that and her. She was smiling by the time Henry had to step out for air.

He was so frustrated he wanted to punch something, no - burst into tears, NO - cry, wailing ugly cry while punching something repeatedly.. Then his phone rang in a weird tone that he had never heard before. He looked at it and saw the FaceMask logo blinking. "Wot?" He answered it, "Hello?"

"Yes?" The woman on the other end answered.

"Uh, yeah. This is Henry. Who's this?"

"Henry? I don't know any Henry, except.. wait.. Are you Henry Hot? I mean Swellview Henry!"

"Yeah. You called me."

"No. My phone flashed that hero app and I picked up and you were there."

"Well, sorry. My phone's been acting up. Bye."

"Wait! It's Babe, from Game Shakers." He was still in his feelings, so that didn't mean anything to him. "We just saw your friend a few weeks ago at Trip's dad's concert. We made the Captain Man game?" She said, trying to refresh his memory.

"Sorry! Right. Sure. It's been a long day."

"It's Valentine's Day. Anything special planned?"

"Yeah, but had to cancel," he didn't want to say anything more.

"She must be heartbroken. I sure would be."

He smiled a little bit and shook his head, "She's got more important things happening right now."

"Uhhhh, more important than plans with literally the hottest guy alive?" He smiled a little more now and blushed, too.

"Apparently."

"She must be like queen of the supermodels or something."

"She's definitely super hot. She's smart, too. She has to work on something for a deadline. You probably know how that is."

"Yeah, but I work with a few idiots most of the time," she laughed. "Hey! We're trying to work on our own projects… what if I worked on a Kid Danger game?"

"Uhhh…" now, he got nervous. If somebody hacked his phone and Babe started talking about Kid Danger and exposed him, that could be bad… Wait! If his phone was hacked it could already be bad. It would have all his family, friends, contacts information… "Maybe let's talk about it another time?"

"I'll put a pin in it.. So, what do you think is up with that app connecting us on a call?"

"No idea. I'll have to speak to the manager about it." She laughed. "No, seriously. She's my…" he furrowed his eyebrows, "she's my friend."

"You are the COOLEST guy!" She gushed.

Eventually, Charlotte and Max can out and Henry was on the phone laughing and speaking very animatedly to someone. Charlotte smiled at him, but she felt a pinch of something. She wasn't sure what yet. She was uncomfortable with his smile and his tone. Oh! That was his flirting tone!

She stopped smiling and asked, "Who ya talkin' to?" he noticed her and for a moment, he looked sad. He forced a smile and got off of the phone. "Who was that?" She asked again, trying not to sound jealous. After how she'd handled him earlier, she felt like she needed to be gentle now.

"Remember the Game Shakers? It was one of them."

"Cool kids," Max said.

"I didn't know you talked to any of them. Which one was it?" Charlotte asked, trying to sound casual."

"The one named Babe, which was why I said bye Babe at the end. Who else would it be, with me calling them Babe?"

Max's eyes widened and he fought a smile. Charlotte nodded. Maybe she deserved that attitude. She pointed to Max and said, "Thanks again. See ya at the thing."

"Oh, do I need to bring somebody to chat with Jasper, or is he not gonna be there? I hate being odd man out…" Charlotte was trying to gesture for him to stop, but he was too late to notice, activating his car…

"What about Jasp?" Henry asked. Max stared at her and she smiled and awkwardly laughed, "He sometimes comes to our science mixers." She nodded.

Henry made a face, "Jasper. Jupidirt Jasper? Cares about science?"

"He's just a plus one," Max said.

"You plus one Jasper before me?" Henry wondered.

"No, he's not her plus one. Usually we go to these together, but you're here, so it's you, and I didn't want to be the only person there not talking or have to suffer Charls and Akuchi trying to dumb down convos all night.." Now Charlotte threw her hands up.

"Jasper won't be there!"

"Okay. That's all I wanted to know, Cheezus."

"I think she's more concerned about not telling me why Jasper be there."

"Why he be there?" Max repeated, chuckling. "He's Akuchi's plus one," Max said, like this was common knowledge.

"THANK YOU MAX!" Charlotte said shoving him into his car, "See you then!"

"What's happening?"

"I felt really bad for how I treated you, so to try to make it up to you and maybe try to prove that I do want you in my world, too, I wanted to invite you to one of our mixers, which would mean Mac needs a plus one, which he has, because he can buddy up with Akuchi."

"Max knows him too," he said, disappointed. "Wait. But… how does Jasper fit in to this conversation?"

She let out a high pitched, "Well. So.. okay. Remember how Akuchi came to Swellview and Jasper was all excited to meet a prince? So, of course I introduced them. They.. hit it off. Jasper… well."

"You sandwiched things between two Hugh pitched wells!" Henry gasped, exaggerated. "Jasper is sleeping with a prince!"

"It's more than that, less than a commitment… They enjoy each other's company and Akuchi makes sure Jasper gets to have nice things…"

Henry gasped again, "Jasper has a prince Sugar Daddy!" She tilted her head. That was accurate enough. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"He didn't want you to think that just because he's involved thus way that he's joking about his lovelife."

"What?"

"He doesn't want you thinking he's gay for pay or something. He wants you to still respect his sexuality, even though he's getting some monetary and material gain from his first relationship with a guy. He looks up to you. He didn't want you to think that he was being cheap or shame him or something."

"Why do you two always think I'm not going to support you? _You're_ the least supportive friend, but he told you?" _Ouch._ "You know, I'll bet you put that idea in his head. Jasp would never doubt my support on his own."

"Oh? It wasn't him who arranged a sting with Ray to prove you were taking sick while I got locked in the tube to prevent me from helping you?"

"What an impressive one instance," he said.

She had a list of others. She could be Petty and pull out her e-journal, but instead, she sucked up this mood, which she felt responsible for and changed the subject.

"So, Babe from Game Shakers, huh? Must have been one heck of a conversation. You were in a completely different mood with her. Maybe you can call her back and give yourself some more joy, huh?" Okay. So, it came out as jealous as she felt.

He scoffed. "You're one to talk. When "Useful" Max arrived, you transformed into a goddess of compassion, mere minutes after talking to me like I was scum on your god-damned shoes! So, yeah, I did enjoy not being told I was worthless and in the way." He held his head and she held back tears.

Could she undo this damage? He was really pissed if he was cussing at her, but his emotions we're justified and she didn't want to make this about her. She reached out and touched his cheek and he softened into her touch. "I wish I could take everything back. If you had said things like that to me, I know it would be difficult for me to forgive you. So, I realize the damage that I've done here today to us. To you." Her voice was small and softer than he had ever heard it. "I made you feel like you had to reach out to another girl for validation…"

"No. FaceMask connected us." He said, stroking her sides with his thumbs. "I don't want validation from anybody but you."

"You're valid. I messed up and I'm so sorry.." He kissed her and they kissed for quite a while before they paused and she only just processed what he'd said, "Wait. FaceMask connected you?"

"Yeah. I didn't even know that it did that."

"It shouldn't, yet. We've been having issues with the test runs (they show personal information), so it's not activated yet. That function would give out sensitive material like a caller ID."

"No, it just showed us both the FaceMask logo and when we answered it was a phone call between us."

"Wait a dang minute. Did they fix the bug and move forward without my knowledge? But still, both parties would have to check interested in on each other's profile…" she got on her work cell phone, "Mimi, did we fix the bug in the FaceMask phone options?"

"Not yet, but we've been working on it," she said, looking at the Spoiler in his cell, pacing and rubbing his arms. "Why do you ask?"

"Kid Danger and a girl were connected by one of our calls today!"

"We'll get our best techs to look into it."

"Thanks."

"Ummm… Mimi works for FaceMask?"

"She's good with computers and she's got bills." She took his hand. "Let me make things up to you. We still have some VDay time left."

"Honestly… I just wanna hear about your work process, and maybe your natal chart?" She smiled and looked confused. "Charlotte, I know you think that I don't care about things that are important to you, but I swear that isn't true. I want all of it. I don't want to be an outsider who gets in your way when you're overwhelmed. We're supposed to be best friends. That's the most important thing to me."

"Okay." She smiled, "It's just.. it seems corny to come to you about crystals and astrology and herbs and oils. You're so," she shrugged her shoulders, "Intimidating sometimes."

"That's ridiculous," he said, smiling proudly that he could even possibly give her room to feel shy. His phone vibrated and he checked the message.

 _I hope that this finds you in time. You are absolutely right not to trust Thunderman. He's a psychotic tyrant. Just ask the one they call Cohort. She knows everything._

"What the heck?"

"What?"

"Now, I've gotten some kind of weird omninous text warning me that… The Spoiler!"

She looked horrified. "He's back?"

"Well, no. He's in some kind of secret facility in Metroburg. Captain Man and I went to see him and he asked to look at my phone. He must have put this message in here for me to eventually get. But, what is he talking about? Cohort knows everything? Nobody's seen her or Dr. Minyak for a couple of years." Charlotte's face determined that wasn't true. "What, Char? What is it?"

"I have to call Ray.." She went to the side and did so, telling him about Henry's message and wondering what she should do."

"Well… I don't trust _the Spoiler,_ but I also don't trust Max. I _do_ trust Mimi. So.. Keep her secret and we'll let him know this weekend. Can you make it here? He might need you afterwards."

"You want me there?"

"I'm not apologizing or anything."

"I'll take it."

.

Whenever Mimi came into the Man Cave, unmasked, and steady tempo heading towards a smiling, unsuspecting Ray; Henry pointed his zapper at her, "Nurse Cohort!" He fired and she dropped instantly. "How'd she even get IN here?" He wondered. "Man, you're lucky I spotted her. She was gonna grab you from behind!"

Charlotte bit her lip as she and Ray checked on the woman, and she mumbled, "She's Mischief Minder."

"What's that, now?" Henry asked.

Ray was shaking her gently, "Mimi? Mimi…" he poked at her, then picked her up, "I'll toss her in the bed and let her sleep it off."

"What's that now?" Henry asked, again, still in shock as Ray left to do what he'd said. Charlotte smiled wincing as she said towards her man, his disapproval clear. "Sooo, you and Ray have known that that woman was Nurse Cohort this entire time, and you didn't tell me."

"I'm very strict about my unmasking policy. Every masked hero, antihero, sidekick and extensions of those are entitled to their discretion until they deem appropriate.."

"She's a villain!"

"Not according to the Metroburg super laws and they are the headquarters for these things."

"She's _personally_ attacked _you._ I can't believe that you would trust her! I'm not down with this. So, she's a friend of Max AND she's a known enemy of the ManCave and the two of you just let her in here willy-nilly."

"There was no Willy; there was no Nilly. There was someone who changed their life and I think deserve a second chance. I'm not very trusting, by nature."

"You're PRECISELY very trusting by nature. You made plans to go into the Bilskys home by yourself. You believe in people without much proof that they are good!"

"I'm brave enough to take a chance on people, but make no mistake, Henry. I'm not some gullible doe. I checked Mimi out. I bought her story. Of course, I knew there was a chance that she wasn't on the up and up. That's why I suggested to Ray to be meticulous about his secrets."

"Yeah. You _trusted_ Ray to be meticulous about his secrets with a hot nurse! _Ray,_ Charlotte." He stormed off and she simply rolled her eyes.

"He'll pull through," she said to herself.

.

Mimi stirred and sat up in the bed Ray set her in. "Ugh. I thought I'd surprise you by coming from behind the mask for Henry, but I guess I'm the one who got shocked."

He chuckled, "I was still very surprised. It's good to see you." He pointed to a bruise near her pelvis, "That's where ya landed. Schwoz'll give you something to clear it up in no time."

"How'd Henry take the news of my unmasking?"

Ray waved a hand, scoffed and said, "Henry? Oh, he's completely, totally, 100% fine with it."

As if on cue, despite not having heard a single word of the exchange, the doors swung open and Henry barged in, making the announcement,"For the record, I am completely, totally, 100% NOT FINE with this!"

Ray gave her a reassuring smile and he said, "He'll pull through."

"Ray, I want her out. I don't want that woman anywhere near Charlotte."

"I mean.. she's already in, Henry."

"Wipe her memory again and send her off!" Mimi actually felt that could be a sweet solution to her problem, an actual fresh start. An escape from Max madness. "Am I the only person who cares about the Spoiler's warning he encrypted into my phone in which he said, 'She knows everything!' EVERYTHING! About Max being a psychopathic tyrant!"

She began crying and Ray, thinking that it was because of the situation hugged her, "Awww, don't cry. Henry's just my sidekick. These tantrums of his hold no real man-weight."

"Beg your pardon?" Henry asked.

"But, he's right." Mimi said.

"Beg your pardon?" Ray now asked, unhanding her. Henry looked gratified for a moment, until he remembered, _that_ made her dangerous and Charlotte was just in the other room.

"I was sent here to spy on your outfit, but not for the reasons that you think!"

Ray stood up, angrily and Henry pointed his zapper at her, in case she had any bright ideas. "I didn't think for _any_ reasons! Was all of our trysts faked?"

"At first, sure. But, I'm… very attached to you and I don't want to hurt any of you."

"A likely story!" Henry said.

"It was a petty, small time task, Swellview level evil, he said. He just wanted someone to get close to a girl and make her want him again. In exchange, he'd give me a fresh start, free reign to target villains for my mischief lust, and the chance to hook up with my celebrity crush, Captain Man. All I had to do was turn over Dr. Minyak and assume the small time task and he was going to make sure that Horatio never came near me again or dragged me down."

"He, who?" Henry asked, already knowing the answer.

She defended, "You must understand, when he started out, he wasn't being malicious. Selfish, yes. But, he honestly believed that she was selling herself short and going to dim her own shine for a lesser man than him, a man that didn't deserve her or her greatness. I bought it, because I'd done it before for less than love. I did it for power, and _still_ wound up being historically linked to a diabolical genius who was actually a full grown man baby!" She sniffled, "Charlotte seemed like she should have a better future than lovesick over a small time sidekick and I didn't feel bad about possibly helping her not to fall into such a lowly place…"

Henry fired his zapper, Ray knocked it from his hand before he could hit her. She jumped. "It was supposed to be me doing a little solid for a bright young lady in exchange for a glorious life out of Horatio's failure filled shadow." She got up and paced, "But, I spent time with you. I saw how you cared for her and I saw her be strong and wise and still certain to focus on her own well being. I believed that she would never be at risk for the man soiled future that he'd painted. I slacked off and got comfortable. I even befriended her and…" she looked sadly at Ray, "Basked in the sunlight that is Ray Manchester…" Ray smiled.

"No, no, no! Don't stroke his ego! I knew you couldn't be trusted."

"That's just it! I couldn't be trusted. I had to earn Charlotte's approval. That made it matter. She matters. I'm worried that she's in danger." She shook her head, "Max found his sister's killers. He did terrible things to them. He returned trying to connect with the only positive thing besides his remaining family, and she rejected him. He… blamed me. I should have sent her back his way, by now. But, I wondered if _he_ wasn't the man who might tarnish her future and I decided that I'd basically ignore our deal, disappear with my friend Gwen and just rediscover myself without any male meddling. I knew Horatio was in custody of Metroburg and that IF Max let him go, he couldn't find me. But Gwen vanished and I was reworking my details. That was when he showed me that he had snapped. Max had gotten to the point where he thought that the only thing that might help to save him from himself is this woman's love. That is supervillain backstory 101. I _saw_ him evolve. I saw his obsession flourish. I avoided him, guilty that I would be contributing to Charlotte's fate with him. So, he began to threaten me. First with unmasking, then with blacklisting, then with actual murder and torture. He showed me this… horrible place that he took Gwen. He took Horatio. He is forcing them to work with telekinesis and technology. I don't know if they even get rest. He has the Spoiler, too. He's been collecting villains and using them as slaves to help solve his crimes, and also to help him get Charlotte, on the side, in between jobs. The reason his hero record is soaring so much is because he has enslaved some great masterminds to do all of his legwork, then he makes a bust. Those that he feels are redeemable or can't assist in catching others, he tries to reprogram - make us feel like maybe we can be heroes too. Gives us a second chance and then, BAM - We're in his debt. I never meant to hurt anybody the way he seems to be willing to."

Henry moved forward, honestly ready to fight her, but Ray gently held on to his shirt and pulled him back to go to her instead. "You're right. _You_ should put her out." Ray didn't, though. He gave her a hug, cupped her chin and told her, "We're not letting him get to Charlotte or you."

Henry was ready to chime in with, "Yeah, not Charlotte or… wait, what?" She cried against Ray and he stroked her hair as he held her. "Ray. She tried to hand Charlotte over to a supervillain!"

"She thought she was just breaking up a couple of kids! I've done more destructive stuff to your awful kid sister than what she did to Charlotte. Calm down." Henry noted something in the way that Ray was holding her, protectively against him, reassuring her with his caress.

"Oh my God, you love her!" Henry was disgusted. "Wait.. she's friends with Gwen. I bet it's a muffin task." He jumped on the Whiz Watch and said, "Char, come help me berate Nurse Cohort to ruin the muffin!" Charlotte stared blinking at him for a bit, then disconnected the contact. "Am I the only one who takes this seriously?" He realized that Ray and Mimi weren't even paying attention to him. Ray was cupping her face and speaking _gently_ to her. _What was actually HAPPENING right now?_ "Uhhh, Ray! What about my mom?" Henry called out.

Ray quickly looked at Henry and almost asked him if she'd said something, but realized just as quickly that was a ruse to distract him. "Grow up, Henry. Your mom and I would never be. She loves that goofball she married." He clapped his hands together and said, "I can tell that you're not handling this news well." He grabbed Henry's discarded zapper and said, "Therefore, _I'll_ talk to Charlotte."

"There's nanotechnology planted in the main area and the elevator," Mimi said. Ray nodded and left. Henry folded his arms, pointed two fingers at his eyes, then to her.

Ray came up to Charlotte at the control panel and asked, "Charlotte, can you please come with me?"

She didn't even glance at him as she said, "Just because he's my boyfriend, doesn't mean I have to talk down his shenanigans. Leave me out of this muffin mess.*

"Good call," Ray said, then effortlessly picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She let out a wild, short scream of surprise, but then sighed and just looked at nobody in particular, that this was her life.

She wasn't prepared for what she was told. She _trusted_ Mimi. She cared about her, called her a friend! And all of this time, she was… "Get her out of here," she said.

"THANK YOU!" Henry cheered and they fist bumped, though Charlotte looked ready to cry.

"She's not going anywhere, Charlotte."

"Cool. Then I will. I quit." She took off her Whiz Watch and dropped it at Ray's feet.

Henry chuckled, "No, you're not quitting, because Ray is getting rid of her right now and we'll formulate a plan to get Max and…" but Charlotte went to the tube and sobbed a little, then a lot, then turned to where they couldn't see her face and Henry rushed over to check on her. She was so mad that she couldn't even _speak._ Mad at Mimi, mad at Max and mad at herself. The tube lifted and Henry wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a comforting hug, letting her angry cry on his chest. "Up the tube," he said angrily, glaring at Ray.

Schwoz watched this entire thing and then asked, "Did the band just break up?" Ray rubbed his hands through his hair. He didn't know how to fix any of this, but he didn't want to lose any of them. He wanted everyone to work it out. Hopefully, Henry and Charlotte just needed some time.


	21. Marriage on the Brain

**Marriage on the Brain**

All he had to do was refuse her. She was fragile and volatile at the time. Sometimes, they overestimated her. Sometimes they all forgot that she could be vulnerable. She simply was so tough and take charge that it was easy to expect her to have it all together all of the time. She didn't. She wasn't _perfect._ She was human. And for all the times she let them be less than perfect, they rarely repaid her that human right. They always expected more from her. Unfortunately, even him. And he agreed, because she seemed to know what she was talking about and because Ray agreed. He should have fought her about it! He should have put his foot down. That was the first mistake he made. "And honestly, you gotta try to trace things back to the first mistake when you have a series of mistakes, Jeff. Knowing you, that was the moment you were born, so just retrace to the nearest first mistake of a series…" Kid Danger was crouching in front of Jeff, talking to him as they waited on the crew that would extract him from the manhole he got stuck in while trying to run. Captain Man had left his sidekick on "Dummy Duty." Henry was babbling to Jeff about Charlotte, who he simply called _this girl._

Jeff sighed, "I'd rather be in jail right now than listen to more about this girl."

"Make better decisions, Jeff. This girl is important to me and I'm stuck here, with you while she's out there… with him!"

.

 _Charlotte couldn't believe how easy it was to shake up her trust. Actually, maybe this wasn't necessarily easy. This was one of the most improbable things to ever take place in her life. But, it had taken place, and now she needed to question everything. Max was the first guy that she felt emotionally and physically comfortable with. He helped her to discover her own sexuality and stimulated her mental energy, in the process. They were friends, lovers, collaborators… For the past two years there was very little that she did that Max wasn't_ _aware of or involved in. To discover that she couldn't trust him… "We can't just go after him. If he really has hostages, we'll have to play this smart and get them out before we take him down," she said to Henry in the car._

" _We take him down first, make some kind of deal with Mimi Cohort Whatever-Her-Real-Name is for her to tell us where the villain slaves are."_

" _He will have either moved them around or fortified their holding place as to not_ _let just anyone inside."_

" _Okay, so how would we go about this 'play this smart' idea that you're speaking of?"_

" _We act as though we don't know what's happened. I go on about life as usual and try to find information whenever I'm in his space…"_

 _Henry made a loud buzzer sound, "Absolutely not. That's dangerous. He's a maniac. I'm not letting you go anywhere near that guy again!" She made a face and he corrected himself, "I mean, I strongly disagree with you putting yourself in harm's way over a basement of villains."_

" _They're human beings. If they've committed crimes, they deserve to pay, but not like that."_

" _He's probably feeding them and stuff, if he has them working for him. They'll have to at least survive in order for him to use them."_

 _Charlotte's entire face turned in disgust, "PLEASE tell me that you didn't just excuse slavery because they get fed, the very bare minimum of survival!"_

" _No. I wouldn't excuse slavery. I'm just saying I don't care as much about villains being enslaved as I do you getting caught by the person who was smart and strong enough to do that to them."_

" _He won't hurt me."_

" _You sure about that? She said he's hanging people up like puppets and puppeteering them to do his bidding."_

" _Including trying to win me back. If I get caught, all I have to do is ask him what's going on and pretend that I accidentally came across the information."_

" _Okay, but then he'll know that_ you _know, and he'll throw you into a Rapunzel tower or something!" She rolled her eyes. "You know what - just because the way that I say things doesn't sound like a necessarily smart person doesn't mean that you shouldn't take this seriously."_

" _I'm taking it seriously. You're the one trying to rush through with no solid plan. Coming at a dangerous,_ _meticulous person without a plan of your own would be a suicide mission. A stupid person's suicide mission."_

Ray and Henry decided to stay out of Charlotte's way.

Well, Ray in particular when he said, "Yeah, I'll let her deal with it. This is Charlotte's problem, anyway."

"We're building a life together. Her problems are _my_ problems, Dude."

"SHE'S your problem. Every since the two got involved you haven't been yourself. You've changed for her. And she _still_ doesn't have your back. Let her go and do what she wants. We've got real problems and a villain farm isn't one of them. She's Charlotte, Henry! If anybody knows what they're talking about, it's her. Just, never tell her that I said that."

Henry's next mistake was similar to the first one, in that he expected too much/was possibly unfair with his reaction to her awful mistake. But, just thinking about it made him angry all over again, so what was he supposed to do? Pretend it was fine? Be okay with her not trusting him, not believing him? She believed in Max up intil the point that someone confirmed he was the worse. She couldn't believe in Henry that way?

.

 _Charlotte and Henry hadn't been speaking as much. She was working on her project, trying to figure out Max's secrets and doing a lot of FaceMask maintenance. He was doing Kid Danger things. It wasn't like they had broken up, but they certainly hadn't been connecting, and both of them had it in the back of their minds how messed up their situation was from start to present. THAT was why when she noticed he and Babe chatting in the comments of his fitting for Byshelle's wedding, she became more than a little suspicious._

 _She didn't know that they had touched base since that day outside the lab when she caught him flirting over the phone with her. She didn't know that in her absence, he'd been communicating with someone who used to have a crush on him and from her comments was at least still attracted to him. And she didn't like the mystery in those comments._

 _Babe: *Heart eyes emojis* You look really good in floral print! Drooling!_

 _Henry: *Blush emoji* You flatter me. With the truth, but I'm still flattered._

 _Babe: We never got together about our thing! *Wink emoji* You have any time?_

 _Henry: Free right now. Message me._

 _Charlotte scoffed, "Free right now, message me? What 'thing'?" She frowned, huffed and puffed, then made a_ bad _decision. She just needed to know that her mind was playing tricks on her. Henry wouldn't cheat, but he_ was _flirting, right up front for whoever to see! She noticed that Piper went through and angry reacted all those comments, so she at least believed it wasn't her imagination._

 _So, Charlotte just did a small hack job to check out what the messages said, in progress._

 _Babe: My God, seriously - you're so beautiful. *Fans self*_

 _Henry: Thanks._

 _Babe: So, I know that you said that you didn't want to discuss things over the phone. Do you think that we should meet up to talk about our thing?_

 _Henry: I don't know when I'd be able to. Always working. But, I'm so down for it. I've thought about this a lot since the last time that we talked. I really wanna do it. You just tell me when you're ready to._

 _Charlotte grabbed her phone and called Henry and he answered, "Hey, Char. Wasn't expecting to hear from you during lab hours."_

" _I took a break, if you can believe it."_

 _Henry: What do you need from me to get things started?_

 _Babe: Just your body. *Wink emoji*_

 _Charlotte asked him as she read the messages, "So, whatcha up to?"_

 _Henry said, "Nothing much. How's your lab stuff coming along?"_

" _Great. Great. Got 90 essential oils programmed into the system, so the panel now gives the mixture recipsle."_

" _Awesome," he said, but he wasn't that enthused. Probably because he was still writing Babe, she presumed. (When really it was because he didn't know how to respond to things when she was still sharing Max's lab space)._

 _Henry: My body is ready._

 _Charlotte squealed, "Is it? IS your body ready for her?"_

 _Henry chuckled, "What?"_

 _Charlotte asked again, "What are you doing_ right now?"

" _Talking to you."_

" _And DMing other girls!"_

 _He laughed and said, "No, just Babe. What, you saw her comments on my pic? Wait. You saw my pic and didn't even comment? Or like it? WAIT!" He thought for a moment, "You've… read my messages?!"_

" _Yeah, I read them. I'm reading them right now, as a matter of fact. You have anything to say for yourself?"_

" _I have something to say for_ _ **your**_ _self! You violated my privacy. That's a huge sign of disrespect."_

" _Are you kidding right now? You're flirting, arranging meetings, and getting your body ready and I'M wrong?"_

" _Yeah, you are. You're_ _ **loud**_ _and wrong. What are you accusing me of, exactly? Talking? Making plans, or are you really, honestly and truly convinced that I'd ever cheat on you?"_

" _From where I'm sitting, you already are."_

 _He blew out a guest of air when that statement hit him in the heart._

" _Well, I hope you enjoy that seat on your high horse, alone."_

" _My high horse? Did you not tell her…"_

" _It was about a business meeting, Charlotte."_

" _Well, when she laid on all the pleasure, you could've spoken up. Such as, 'That's a nice compliment, but I'd like for us to maintain some professionalism.' Or, go my route whenever someone hits on me - I appreciate your compliments. My boyfriend thinks very highly of me too.'"_

" _Well, I didn't think to say that because I'm not a liar!" She froze and he jumped at his own attack. "I mean… I don't know that you_ do _think highly of me, anymore. Like this very instance, you saw a girl flirting with me, but you could've taken a page from my book. I'd have interrupted that conversation with a "Isn't my girl the hottest?" You… you_ hacked _me, then attacked me. You didn't even straight up ask me about the situation, and you're the one that said we gotta always be honest with each other. This is me, being honest!"_

 _Her voice was hurt, but she was out of fight, because he was right about a lot of that. "Well, I'm sorry to have made you feel that way. No wonder you're into her.."_

 _He scoffed, "I can't do this right now. Click."_

" _No click. We're not done yet. I've obviously hurt you..." Click. She looked at the phone. He'd hung up on her and then she saw him type._

 _Henry: Hey. Messaging compromised. Can I call you?_

 _Babe: Sure! Here's my number!_

 _Charlotte set her phone down and cut off her computer. She got back to her work and by the time she left the lab, had been crying for hours. She was glad Max wasn't there that night._

 _When she couldn't get through to Henry for a few days, she deactivated her socmed accounts except for FaceMask and SoulDates… and she changed her SoulDates status to single. Henry got the notification for that change and his heart plummeted. He needed space to sort through her not trusting him, but he didn't think she'd do_ this _. And, he didn't do anything to try to get her back, either. He just.. accepted it. Maybe she'd been right before. His next mistake was accepting that._

 _._

"And that Jeff, was my THIRD mistake. What did I expect her to do? Wait until I was out of my feelings and just presume everything was gravy until I did? She was feeling insecure and instead of reassuring her, I just got really pissed. I had the right to be, but I could have just told her - I'm upset that you spied, I'm upset that you're accusing me and I need a little time to process these feelings. I just hung up on her and stopped replying to her. Of course she dumped me! I'm surprised it took her a week to do it."

"This girl sounds like a buzzkill," Jeff said.

Kid Danger popped him upside the head, "Only loved ones get to say stuff like that."

"Look, Man. My sister gets married this weekend and I'm supposed to give her away because our dad's locked up. Can you lock me up a different night?"

"Your sister's wedding is this weekend?"

"Yeah. So, can I…?"

"Shut up, Jeff."

 _This weekend?_ Henry hadn't seen Charlotte in a few weeks. If that wedding was this weekend, that meant a few things. 1. He had to see her this weekend. 2. The anniversary of the first time he tasted her lips, and everything else.

They'd really hit the ground running, and somehow ran everything into the ground. How was he even supposed to face her after everything? He wasn't sure, but just knowing that he had to made him consider taking up alcohol.

.

Henry and Charlotte began fighting because she was "getting close" to Max's secrets and he was trying to warn her of Mimi's meetings with Max and talk her out of going forward. It became an issue of trust and she started feeling like not only that _he_ didn't trust _her,_ but maybe _she_ couldn't trust _him._ So… she kinda started not to.

First with his protective opinions.

Then with his flirting with Babe.

But, when he ghosted her, she threw in the towel. Ray refused to come get the Man Cave Remote Control Panel from her apartment, so she simply turned it all off.

Her focus was on FaceMask, her lab, Byshelle's wedding, investigating Max, and an impending Spring Break.

Jasper tried to plan things, but she told him that Henry could have him for Spring Breaks, so long as she got him on her birthday weekend and they'd split holidays. When she told Jasper what happened, he literally cried. He was wailing. She almost felt worst for telling him than she had about causing Henry to dump her. She'd moved her project into her home, to try to test it out for real (and avoid Max prying about why she was single again). Every single night, it gave her a cool fan with chamomile, lavender, neroli and ylang ylang. In other words, the AC unit knew that she was stressed out to the max. She even packed up all of Henry's pajamas with the things that she intended to give back to him. She shipped it to the Man Cave and spent the weeks between their fallout and the wedding just trying to live her life. The life that she thought she'd always be sharing with Henry…

.

Henry came into Jasper's apartment, dressed in last night's clothes and exhausted. "I think I left my wedding jacket here…" he sniffed around and whispered, "Is Charlotte here?"

"What? Why do you ask?"

"It smells like her in here. Where is she?"

"Either in the shower or just getting out."

Henry groaned and rushed into the bedroom to look for his jacket. Right when he found it and came out of the closet holding it, Charlotte came out if the bathroom with just an open bathrobe and her hair elongated and glistening. They both froze and stared at each other, then he found his voice to apologize and rush out while she only nodded.

It was brief, but Henry caught a lot of details. She had a new belly button ring of a hibiscus. It was cute. Her wrist was swollen, probably from overworking, but she didn't have it wrapped up, so it was most likely fine, but he still wanted to examine it and give her massage, just in case. He knew he couldn't, but he thought about offering to do it.

From the glisten of her hair, he knew exactly where she was in her routine and wondered if she needed help, considering that one of her wrists were swollen. He noticed that she had a fresh pedicure. Probably because Byshelle had her wedding party wearing open toe shoes. The color scheme painted on them matched the floral print of his jacket, and her maid of honor dress, which he hadn't seen since she asked Bysh if she could make some changes. Charlotte picked him a matching jacket as her plus one… Now, he was going alone, but he'd helped with flowers, so, at least he won't look like a total tool.

He stood outside of the bedroom door for a long time thinking about how good she looked, and how badly he had let things get. Whenever he knocked, she peeked out with a confused expression, but froze again, as soon as she saw him.

"Henry?"

"Hey. I just wasn't sure when I'd see you again, so I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. For my part in what happened. I've thought about it a lot and I realized that I made some mistakes."

She looked confused, "Henry, I take full responsibility for what happened. Don't worry about it."

"I… can't stop. I can't stop worrying about it. You needed me to prove that you could trust me and I just shut down."

"I shouldn't have spied though. You were justified in getting angry. I realized that whenever you didn't answer any of my calls… or texts. I would have been mad, too. Besides, like Jasper said, I could have sent you a message saying that if I didn't hear from you, I was assuming we were done before just, you know… ending it the way that I did. I was a horrible girlfriend from the start. Let's face it. I shouldn't have been trying to have a serious relationship." Her eyes were damp, "I lost my best friend in the process…"

"No!" Henry snapped, then calmly finished, "That would never happen. Our friendship just took a detour, but - we're Henry and Charlotte."

"Hashtag Henlotte," she said, laughing.

"Exactly. We're making it through this. I promise." She nodded, but he could tell that she didn't believe that for one moment. She opened her mouth to say something, but Jasper yelling from the living room interrupted her.

"Charlotte! Your big, stupid OX is here!"

Henry covered his chest like clutching his pearls. "Wow. Harsh words from Jasp. I'm going to have to talk to him about that. Not very gentlemanly. Bysh is a delight."

Charlotte chuckled awkwardly and grabbed the floral outfit in a plastic bag and her gym bag, tote and purse. "Later, Hen," she said. Whenever she went outside, Mitch grabbed her stuff to put into his truck and they were talking very animatedly. Henry watched through the blinds and asked Jasper, "Whaaaaat am I watching happen here?"

"A cry for help."

"Please, tell me she is not…"

"She did." Henry gagged. "Couple of times in the past week or so."

"But… why?"

"A cry for help!" Jasper pointed at him, "Don't shame her for it. Just make this right."

"I tried to talk to her. She seemed pretty detached, Man. I think she had enough of trying with me."

"She's already hung out with Mitch, TWICE. You wanna lose _two_ girls to that ogre?"

"Wait, did they hang out, or did they _hang out?"_

"They hung out."

"A me and you hang or a you and Oochie Coochie hang?"

"EWWWWW! A me and you hang. You think I could so calmly tell you Charlotte…" he shuddered at the thought. "But, that's what could happen if you don't stop making these mistakes."

"What did I do wrong _today?"_

"For one thing, I'm starting to think you're butchering Akuchi's name on purpose and at best, that's culturally insensitive, Man."

"True that. I'll stop. Besides, he's good to you, so you know I love that."

"Actually, we've stopped seeing each other that way."

"What did that scalawag do?"

"Nothing! We're still friends. But, the whole thing with me wanting something serious someday and him having to eventually marry for political reasons. It was just a mess waiting to happen if we let it continue."

"Sorry, Man."

"No biggie. I've moved on."

"Okay, Player. Maneater. Ladykiller. Equal opportunity devourer or slayer of some sort… Gimme fuel, Dude. What's your current situation?"

"You're makin' it weird."

"Seeing Charlotte messed with my brain, Bro! I have to get her back. How can I get her back? CAN I get her back? I need HELP!"

"Oooookaaaay. Well. As you may know, I know some things. Charlotte and I have discussed this. You can definitely get her back. She still loves you. If she shot you down, it's probably because she is really focused on getting Max. She thinks she has to do it, because he's used these people to get to her. She feels obligated to free them. As soon as she completes that, she's coming back to you. She's moving back to prove to you that she loved you all along! Hashtag hearteyes!"

"She can't do that!"

"Which part?"

"ANY of it! Charlotte invented something for school that can probably take care of her for the rest of her life. I can't let her turn her back on this education for.. for me."

"I'm confused. You want her back but you want it to be like it was?"

"No!" Henry sighed, "I don't know. I just know I have to get her back. I need her in my life, Jasper. I opened up my heart to _Jeff,_ last night!" Jasper simply looked confused. "I'm… I'll move with her," Henry declared.

"You're just saying that," Jasper said laughing. "Henry. You're Kid Danger. You can't leave. Remember that time your dad got a new job and you sabotaged it to stay? Because, I didn't, but Charlotte sure did. She brought it up in her gajillion point plan to defeat Max and 'come home to her Henry." Henry grabbed his jacket and started to leave. "Are… You… About to chase her like that? You look a mess. At least clean up.."

"I told you, Man! My mind got messed up. You should have SEEN her!"

"I did."

"She was beautiful."

"She was normal."

"Her normal is beautiful."

"Look, do you need help cleaning yourself up, or not?"

.

Henry was so nervous when he made his way to the arena. It was mostly empty, but Charlotte had hired a team of college students to help people navigate where to go. He went to find her in the dressing room with Byshelle. There was a star on the door with Bysh "Basher" Bilsky on it. " _She's_ not a wrestler!" He observed before he knocked.

Charlotte opened the door and froze, yet again. Third time today. But… Seeing her, Henry was also stuck.

It wasn't a dress. It was a romper, with a cape. She took a reportedly hideous dress and turned it fashionable and herself into such a view… "Henry, what is it? Is there a flower problem?" She cut into his dazed stare, whispering, so that Bysh couldn't hear her.

"No. It's personal."

Charlotte rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Henry…" She stepped out of the dressing room and he nearly passed out. She was even more gorgeous when he saw her legs, and followed them all the way up her slender frame, decked out in this awesome floral outfit, up to her finger pointed at him and her bemused face, "Do not start anything on Bysh's day. She's _already_ stressed out!"

"I'm sorry. I just had to let you, before you bang Mitch or something…"

Her face grimaced, "WHAT? Henry, get out of here."

"I just had to tell you that you don't have to do it alone - any of it. Not stop Max, not anything. And you don't have to move back to Swellview or do any other huge life changing thing. I believe you, and I still love you and I want to make it up to you. I'll help you stop Max, and then I'll come to be with you."

She frowned, confused, "You would leave," she looked around and whispered, " _The Danger_ behind."

"I'll be as safe as Jake Hart."

She smiled and shook her head, "Okay. I'll think about that. I'm gonna go back in."

"I love you!"

"Okay, Hen." She nodded her head. "We'll talk later." She went back in and he looked at the sky. _What had he done wrong?_ She didn't say that she loved him back. She didn't even respond to him leaving behind a life he loved! _What the butt?_ He sighed and moved on. The wedding was… interesting. Henry had never seen so many huge guys. He also… saw Max. He guessed that Charlotte brought him as her plus one. Wow. He felt SO stupid. Like, sure - maybe it was just to keep him close enough to find out his secrets, but, Henry hated it, still.

Afterwards, when they went to the section set for the reception, Max found him. "Henry, I didn't realize you and BB were friends!"

"I did the flowers," he said, not wanting to even _look_ at dude. He was so angry, just being in proximity to him.

"Oh, yeah! Your one gift! I heard about that…"

Henry stepped forward to step to him and Charlotte appeared and held him back, "Hey, Henry!" She cheered, covering the fact that she didn't want them to fight by distracting Henry with her presence and her touch. It worked. He paused and looked down at her. He looked at her little brown hands on the chest of his coat, then into her eyes. She smiled shyly and lowered her hands. "What did you think of the wedding?"

"You made a circus surprisingly classy," he complimented. She beamed as she smiled and giggled, unintentionally. Henry smiled to himself at that. He'd… made Charlotte giggle… Like, he didn't think she did that for him. Like, he was trying to remember if she had before, but now, seeing her do so, he _knew…_ He'd made it. He had her back. They hadn't talked about it, but he _KNEW._ Max did too. His frown was plastered onto his face as he left to grab a couple of drinks.

When he was out of earshot, she admitted, "I didn't want to get into a heavy conversation knowing that he was coming. I've been trying to crack his security code without detection. I know where they are, but getting to them has been impossible!" She fixed his tie, "You look so good today, Hen."

"Me? You're… You stole the show. Who is this bride they speak of?" She giggled again and playfully swatted him.

"I wouldn't ask you to leave here," she said, suddenly serious and studying his chest. "I would have to know that you did it because you wanted to, and not to make sure that I didn't come back or to save me or anything other than you simply _wanting_ to be with me. I've been selfish enough…" She looked up and their eyes met again. "I just want you to want me again."

"I never stopped," he whispered. She opened her mouth to say something, but Max shoved a drink between them and she smiled sadly and turned back to him. Henry went to go get himself a drink, as well. Charlotte saying she wanted him to want her made him pretty hot.

"You two are gonna get married, watch," he heard Bysh say.

He turned and cheered, "Hey, there's the bride! You looked beautiful today, Bysh. Really pulled off the princess look." He purposefully ignored her comment.

"Thanks to your future wife," she said. "I really appreciate her. Both of you, really. The flowers are beautiful. People keep asking me about them."

"I mean… I didn't create them," he laughed.

"Yeah, but you gave me the right ones and they look amazeballs together! We're doing the bouquet and garter toss next, so stay tuned."

"The what and what?"

"I throw the bouquet and the women fight to catch it. Whoever does catch it wins. He throws a garter and the men fight to catch it. Then the two winners do a dance." She shrugged her shoulders, "It's a stupid wedding tradition. The folk tale is that whoever catches those are the next people to get married."

"What?"

"Yeah, it's dumb, but my mom insisted that we do it, for tradition." The announcer called for the bouquet toss and Bysh rushed to it. Henry decided to take his punch and watch this. Charlotte was amongst the ladies waiting for it, but she didn't look too enthused about it. Still, the bouquet came in her direction and she looked like she was trying to shield herself getting hit with it, but she caught it in the process. Bysh turned and screamed, then rushed over to her. _She_ was way more excited about it than Charlotte.

Whenever the men gathered for the garter, Henry noticed Max going, so he set his cup down and did the same. Charlotte bit her lip and bounced nervously. Bysh said, "I hope that they have a brawl over you."

"Not at your reception!" Charlotte said.

"Yeah! That'll make it better!"

Whenever Bysh's new husband threw the throwaway garter Henry noticed that it was going directly towards Max. Actually, he noticed that Max _was making it_ come directly towards him. His hypermotility helped him intercept it. He smiled at Max and Max fumed. "You cheated," Max said, smiling through his teeth.

"I countered your cheating," Henry corrected.

Max and he wound up face to face, close enough to kiss, to be honest, but Henry didn't know why he thought of _that,_ other than Max was way too much in his personal space if they were close enough to kiss. "You blew it, Henry," Max said, "Just leave her in peace."

Henry laughed, "She wants me back and I'm not resting until I get her back."

Max glared, but Bysh pulled Henry away and told him that it was time for him to put the garter on Charlotte and start out the dance. Charlotte hated dancing, and she hated being put on the spot. This was THE WORST… But, it was Henry, so she felt calm. He smiled, sliding the garter onto her soft, smooth thigh. Whenever they danced and he held her close, he felt like every molecule in his body wanted her. She was in his system. "Char," he whispered, "Does this mean we get to get married, now?" She shuddered against him and laughed lightly.  
"Could you imagine? We haven't even gotten dating right, yet."

"We'll get it," he said.

She smiled, "Yeah. We will."

"Does… Does that mean that you're willing to take me back?"

"Why do you keep saying it like that? Like I just ditched you, or something? You checked out and I made it official. So, the question is really if you're willing to take _me_ back."  
"I'm willing to take you forever." He rubbed his nose against hers and she stood on her toes to kiss him. She'd completely forgotten about everyone there. She'd completely forgotten about Max. Max stormed out of the arena, a wave of devastation following him angrily as he did.

"Whoa. Did that dude make that happen?" They heard Mitch ask. She looked to see the doors fling open and Max stomping out.

"Oh my God… What did I do?" she asked.

"Don't worry. We're together now. We'll take him on and free those villains and…" She kissed him again and he smiled into it.

"Sorry. I just miss having optimistic Henry in my corner. I missed you so much, Dude."

"Let's never ever do anything like that again."

"I promise, I never will. I learn from my mistakes."

"I'm still scared that I'm gonna do something stupid and lose you again."

"I have faith that you won't. And if you do something stupid, I'll remember to take the facts into consideration."

"The facts are that I'm stupid and I do really stupid things when I have feelings. And I have _a lot_ of feelings, here, for you."

"The facts are also that I know who you are Henry, sometimes better than you do. You're not stupid, just emotionally sensitive and that makes you sometimes do things that we call stupid, and I still believe in you."

He smiled, "Being validated by you is my _kink."_ He pulled her even closer and she rocked against him. "I'm never gonna let you go again."

"I'm never gonna leave you again," she countered. He cupped her face and kissed her again. He didn't know if he would ever stop kissing her. He didn't know if he ever could.

.

Charlotte texted Max an apology for her behavior at the reception. "I didn't want to hurt you or disrespect you. I just can't get Henry out of my system. I'm so sorry that things turned out the way that they did. I hope you're okay." He read it and re-read it. He watched her closely. He waited until he couldn't STAND IT anymore. Henry was packing up some things into his jeep, and from where Max was standing, a roof near the junk shop… He appeared to be _leaving. LEAVING? With Charlotte? Was he coming with her? Was this just a trip?_ At any rate, he snapped, figuratively and literally. When he did, the jeep flipped over onto it's top and Charlotte screamed, with Henry yanking her out of the way. As if Max would ever endanger her! He jumped down and lowered himself in front of them.

"Hey, Henry. Charlotte." He looked beyond them at the jeep. "Having car trouble?" Ray and Mimi came rushing out of the shop and she froze whenever she saw Max. This was the first time she was seeing him since she told Ray and Henry everything, and from the scene, she could tell this was about to be ugly. Henry and Ray pulled out their gumballs and blew their bubbles. Max just smirked. This was about to be interesting.


	22. Mad Max Beyond Thunderman

_A.N.: So, I don't know if I ever mentioned this earlier, because this is my first story within this fandom and there's only 2 readers that I know here who have read my work in other fandoms. Whenever I have a big paragraph within the text and it's italicized, that's usually a flashback. Sometimes, it's internal monologue. I wanted to be sure that I mentioned it, even if it seemed obvious from what's written, just to try to clear up possible confusion. This chapter has a few Max and Charlotte flashbacks during Max and Henry's fight, , but some inner -monologue for Henry later, so I wanted everyone able to follow along as best as possible._

 **Mad Max Beyond Thunderman**

Charlotte rushed towards Max and Kid Danger called out, "Char!" But, she was already in front of him.

"What are you doing, Max? You flipped the jeep? What has gotten into you?" He stared at her, clearly softening up. "Max, whatever is going on, we can work something out, okay? We can get you some help, if that's what's needed. We can all be okay and nobody has to fight or anything." Kid Danger and Captain Man waited, to see where this was going.

Max sighed and smiled a little. "You're just saying that to protect them."

"I'm saying it because I don't want anyone else to get hurt. You don't have to fight them. You don't have to keep villains in your dungeon. You don't have to…"

"Villains in my dungeon?" He tilted his head and chuckled. "How long have you known about that?" He threw Mimi a look. "I'll deal with you later. For now, keep an eye on Charlotte. Wouldn't want her to get in the middle of this mess." He waved a hand and Charlotte glided in Mimi's direction until the woman caught her.

Kid Danger rushed towards Max and Max held up his hand. "We aren't even going to lay out some ground rules, Henry? Bad form, Buddy." Captain Man moved to advance, but Max put up another hand to stop him, too.

Charlotte was trembling as Mimi held on to her. "You need to let me go. The more I can stay in the middle of them, the less likely they'll both be to attack each other."

"Maybe so, Charlotte. But then, that'll be the more likely you are to get hurt and I'm not risking that for these boys to throw their weight around." Charlotte was squirming until Mimi said, "We need to get something that will end this fight, once and for all."

"Like WHAT?" Charlotte wondered, frustrated as Max taunted Kid Danger with telekinesis.

"Like the memory wiper that I've heard tell of. Do you know where it's kept?" Charlotte nodded, but she didn't approve of the usage of that thing. "We wipe Max and this ends. Okay?" Charlotte nodded her head and the two women rushed towards the Man Cave.

Max had said, "Do you _really_ want us to use our powers in this fight, Henry? Because, I've gotta tell you. You're little speed trick is cute or whatever, but it's seriously, and I can't stress this enough, _no match_ for me. Here is what I suggest - A one on one between you and I on skill alone, no power. I honestly just want to punch you a lot."

"We'll see if you can, Max!" Kid Danger fumed. Max's power shoved him back a few feet.  
"Keep in mind, I'm more than just my powers, Henry. I can fight, too. I'll give you a chance to walk away right now, unharmed. Just admit that you're not good enough for Charlotte and leave her alone."

"I'll _die_ before I leave her alone. Especially if you're anywhere around!" Kid Danger said.

Captain Man rushed towards Max but Max swung his arm like an uppercut and sent him flying several blocks away. "That oughtta give us some time to duke it out," Max said to Kid Danger, smiling. "Now, if I see you use your powers, I'll use mine. I recommend that we just fight, Homie."

"You're gonna pay for calling me Homie when we're _clearly_ not!" Kid Danger told him and charged at him to fight.

Kid Danger was shocked at how good of a fighter Max was. He wasn't sure why, but he supposed he simply thought he was more of a science guy with superpowers. But… Max clearly had some real fight in him. Combined with his crazy desire for Charlotte, he was kinda formidable. Now, it was obvious why Charlotte had been so worried about a showdown between the two of them. She knew who Max really was. Henry hadn't, but he was definitely learning.

.

 _Max was researching fun nearby things to do whenever Phoebe entered the room to remind him that they leave for a mission within minutes. "I'm totally ready. Just trying to secure a couple of tickets for an event."_

" _A couple of tickets. The past few weeks, you've been doing a lot of coupling things. Anything you haven't told me?"_

" _Yeah, but it's not really anything to tell, at this point." She made a face like she didn't believe him. "Okay. So, I like somebody. But, I don't know if she likes me back."_

" _You seem to be spending a lot of time together."_

" _Yeah, but, she initially met me in my villain phase and I think that some part of her holds on to that."_

" _Wow. That was a while ago, Max. Who is this girl?" Phoebe wondered as he shut down his computers and pet his bunny._

 _Max sighed, laughed at himself a little and turned out unnecessary lights in the room. "Remember that time we went to Swellview?"_

" _The Captain Man mission," Phoebe said._

" _That was hardly a mission, but yeah - you went to help Captain Man and I went to get something from Dr. Minyak. There was this girl with Captain Man. She wasn't in a costume or anything. She was helping with the tech work and stuff. She brought me a cup of tea after you let them hang me out of a helicopter!"_

 _Phoebe winced, "That was probably one of my worst moments. Wait. Is the girl you're currently talking to the one with the tea? Because, I feel like I should point out that I remember her being super young!"_

" _She's not_ that _young! She's just small."_

" _Her name was Charlotte, right? Did you do background checks. Because, just because someone has a hero gig, doesn't mean that you can just trust them."_

" _I'm very careful, Phoebs. That's not the problem. The problem is that we always have to meet somewhere, because she won't give me her address, even though she doesn't drive and will have to walk or bike to our meeting places. The problem is that she isn't looking for a relationship, but her friendship with Kid Danger always sounds like something else."_

" _Maybe she doesn't like you like that, but realizes that you're a cool dude. Maybe she just needs time. You have to also think about how the market is for most women. This day in age and they still see us as conquests a lot of the time. If she's a smart girl, and I think she is, she's just doing her due diligence to weed out potential creepos. If you really like her, just stick to your path and she'll see you for who you are. When she sees him, trust me - she's gotta like you. You're one of the best out there, Max."_

" _Hopefully, she agrees." Phoebe shrugged her shoulders. "Phoebe, thanks for this chat. I don't know how I'd ever do things without you."_

 _She laughed, "I don't either. Thankfully, you'll never have to. I'm always gonna be here for you. In your corner." She gave him a hug, "Now… about this upcoming mission…"_

 _._

Kid Danger was pretty worn out. He had gotten several good hits in on Max, to where Max was bleeding from the mouth and from his eyebrow, but Max must have been coursing with adrenaline, because he didn't even seem to notice. Kid Danger was actually a bit terrified of him, in this light. That didn't stop him from fighting. He himself had gotten a few bad punches and kicks to the gut, ribs and chest. Max targeted the torso, while Kid Danger targeted his face, neck and head mostly. It wasn't something that Kid Danger was conscious of at the moment, but Max was definitely paying attention to it all. "Do you know why I can't imagine you ever actually stepping foot outside of Swellview, Henry?" Max asked as they caught their breath. "Because it would push you to do better, when all you want to do is skate by. And skating by works here. The government officials are simpletons. The citizens are predominantly idiots. Even the superhero team and most of their tech support are buffoons. If you left this place, you'd really have to step things up tenfold. You'd have to be prepared for _actual_ villains. You'd have to make tough decisions that might negatively affect several lives. Swellview is like bubblegum flavored kids mouthwash."

"I love bubblegum flavored stuff," Kid Danger said and charged him again, ramming him into a phone pole.

"And Charlotte doesn't have time or respect for kiddie bullshit," Max whispered, with a chuckle. Henry took a swing at him and when he ducked, punched the pole and winced. Max continued, "The fact that you're on the coattails of 21 and still called Kid Danger is indicative of where your mindset is. The fact that you've been a sidekick for 7 years is indicative of where your skillset is. The fact that you were just going to pack up and leave, while having NO PLAN or just rebranding your current image to start fresh within that truth shows that you don't have anything to offer Charlotte. You'll just be in her way, just like you were when you visited a month ago." Kid Danger charged him again and slammed him into the overturned jeep. Max just laughed out loud at how angry he was making him, simply by assessing the situation as he believed it to be.

.

 _They were at an exhibition whenever she first showed the signs of actually trusting him. The self-titled Scientartist was a genetic specialist and resident fanboy who put his spare time and personal resources into genetically creating iconic science fictional creatures as real life, breathing entities, minus their less attractive characteristics. Tribbles that didn't multiply like crazy. Gizmos that didn't morph into hideous gremlins… Charlotte was in heaven interacting with the creatures. Max was so into seeing how happy he'd made her by bringing her along that he hardly properly fanboyed about everything, himself. It wasn't until they came to the Luck Dragon that both were so awestruck that they couldn't move. "Some time before I die, I am gonna save up money to pet him!" Charlotte promised._

 _Max cleared his throat and told her, "I could make that happen today and you don't have to go into your savings for it." She turned around, stars in her eyes and this expression of wonder on her face that he never wanted to fade. "I'll go talk to the Scientartist. He's a friend of Metroburg and I do have a direct line to President Kickbutt."_

" _Honestly, if this happens, I don't even know how I'm going to react."_

 _He smiled and rushed off to make it happen. It wasn't about money or connections. The guy seriously just didn't want anybody anywhere near his prized Luck Dragon! So, Max may have blurred the lines of good and bad a little. He went back to Charlotte and truthfully said, "I've got it all taken care of." He used his telekinesis to lock out anybody else, and to open the display. She got to pet the Luck Dragon and take a photo with him before they left and if the cameras caught any of that, Max wasn't gonna worry about it that day. Charlotte was ecstatic though. Who knew that things like this could happen in her life. She never wanted to leave this place, but she had homework to do this weekend and she was floating, but definitely clear headed enough to remember her goals. Max was about to bring her back to their meeting point when she wondered, "Would it be too much trouble for you to give me a ride home?"_

 _His face brightened up, "No! No trouble at all!" As he let his powers attach her bike to his SUV, he texted his sister: I think I've gotten her to like me._

 _Phoebe: No surprise._

 _._

Max had Kid Danger under his foot. He literally had a foot settled on his trachea. "Whenever you get to stay in one place, you get praises and accolades. You get comfort. Whenever you have to travel around the world, everyone forgets you with the next scandal, except for the powers that be. But, when you're gone, they will quickly replace you, because the world has to keep on spinning. When Phoebe was gone, they already had backup ready to step in. They had me work with some partner who didn't know me beyond their studies or realize how to make things work with me. That wasn't her fault. It was a wonderful opportunity for her. She earned her place and deserved the promotion, now that her predecessor had fallen, and I'd tried to do it alone. I couldn't do it. Couldn't focus. I probably should have taken a break to sort through my feelings about Phoebe. But, I knew that if I took a break, I might lose the trail to her killers…"

 _Max remembered nights of coming into Charlotte's apartment late, and getting caught examining wounds, only for her to rush to her first aid kit and start learning how to patch up things. "I can literally just close the skin up with my powers," he told her._

" _Will that_ heal _you, or just close the wounds? This needs to be cleaned and stitched!" He'd always smile at her face, focused on concentrating on the perfect stitch. "I need to keep more hero-mending supplies in my home," she made a mental note. And after that, she did. She had an entire chest of things specifically geared to hero-mending, which she got either from SoulDates connects or worked on herself._

" _You're the perfect superhero's sanctuary," Max told her._

 _She blushed and brushed it off. "I keep mostly superhero company." She smiled a little, "Probably gonna marry one and produce a few more," she declared, scanning a wound for signs of infections. He stroked her cheek and gave her a kiss, wishing and hoping that she meant him specifically, even though even then, a part of him knew that she probably didn't._

 _._

Kid Danger coughed and struggled to get Max's foot off of him. "I'm starting to think that this has nothing to do with me or Charlotte and more to do with your sister, Dude…" Max stumbled at the mention of her by someone else and Kid Danger was able to get up. "Look… I have a little sister. She is an absolute pain, but if I lost her, I honestly don't know what I would do. Phoebe was a hero…"

"Don't say her name,"Max said, fingers shivering.

"She was a good person and probably a wonderful friend, and wonderful sister. So, if I'd even be distraught losing my terrible sister, I can't imagine how you must feel losing her."

"Shut up about her, I am warning you, Henry. You know nothing about my sister or me losing her."

"I know that if she was here, seeing you do stuff like this, _that_ would probably kill her, Dude…" Max's hands moved forward and Kid Danger's body flew backwards and he slammed into the jeep and Charlotte's scream pierced through the night, as she dropped the memory wiper and ran towards Kid Danger. Max covered his own mouth, in shock of what he'd just done. He did mean to fight Henry, but he _hadn't_ meant to hurt him too bad. He rushed towards them and Charlotte was collecting a barely conscious Kid Danger into her arms and crying. "What did you DO? Max, what did you DO?" Max shook his head and stood up, "I didn't mean to hurt him. I just wanted to scare him. I just wanted to best him. Charlotte, I swear… I…"

Kid Danger coughed up blood and Charlotte squealed, "Do something, Max. You have to try to fix this!" Max nodded and held his shivering hand out towards Henry, terrified of the possibility of him dying. Because Henry was right about one thing - if Phoebe could see him like this, having not only fought a good kid, but having injured a hero… She would be so disappointed in him. He was disappointed in himself. This wasn't who he was. He didn't hurt heros. He didn't attack innocents. He had tears in his eyes as he tried to undo the damage. But, that attack had been rage inspired. He didn't even fully know what he had done to Henry, much less how to undo it. He tried to start with willing his insides better. He didn't know where the damage was, though, so he was simply just guessing, and his intelligence wasn't very high in anatomy…

Mimi was struggling with the memory wiper when Captain Man showed back up and saw the scene. Kid Danger, a bag of bleeding bones, with his head on Charlotte's lap as she cried and fussed at Max, who was standing over them with his had extended towards them. Captain Man declared, "I'm gonna kill him!" She rushed to cut him off. "Mimi, despite how you know I feel about you. Don't think that I won't go through you to get to him."

"Ray, I don't think that Henry is going to make it. His body is in terrible shape. But, Charlotte grabbed this memory wiper and I don't know how to use it. We can take Max down, but I can't let you kill him. That's not who you are! I would never want that on your conscious. He's just a kid, Ray. You don't want to watch two kids die tonight. Show me how this thing works and we'll at least save one. Then, you'll have to be at Henry's side." With tears in his eyes, Ray took the memory wiper and adjusted it to point at Max. Whenever he was hit and fell to the ground, Charlotte screamed even louder, "NOOOOOOO!"

Mimi and Ray rushed over. Charlotte looked at Max, as he stirred about, confused. She shook her head and whimpered, "Oh my God, Henry's gonna die. He's gonna die. Ray, what did you do?"

Captain Man bent over Kid Danger and said, "We had to get Max to stop hurting him."

"He was trying to undo this!" She squealed.

Captain Man was horrified, "That's not what it looked like from where we were." He touched Kid Danger's face and is breathing was labored.

Charlotte shook her head, "He was getting slowly better, but now… I don't know what to do about these injuries and we just wiped Max's memories of his own telekinesis!" She cried, dropping alligator tears on Henry, "This is all my fault." He gathered him closer to her and he put his one working arm up to hold on to her hand. She got his gumballs out, "You've gotta change back, okay? The Harts deserve to get to say goodbye and if you're Kid Danger, they might not be able to, okay?" He slightly nodded and she put a gumball in his mouth. He was too weak to chew, so she took it and chewed it, and put it back in, "Just blow, okay? Just blow." she tried to spread the gum on his tongue and push down on his belly. It was barely a bubble, but he did change back and she cried. They heard the sirens. 911 had been called at the start of the fight, but finally were showing up. Charlotte didn't know if there was enough time.

.

Piper was the first one on the scene. She'd heard that there was a Kid Danger fight outside of Junk N Stuff and rushed over. She didn't expect to find Henry on a stretcher, Charlotte covered in his blood and Captain Man and Mischief Minder with Max in custody. She couldn't even figure out what she was looking at, because her brother looked… so bad. He looked practically dead when she rushed to Charlotte, "Charlotte, what happened?" Charlotte burst into a new crying spell seeing Piper, as she repeatedly apologized to her.

Captain Man put a hand on Piper's shoulder and said, "Your brother was very heroic tonight and no matter what happens, I won't let Swellview forget that."

"What? What? No matter what happens? What's wrong with Henry? Did that guy hurt him?" She asked and punched her fist through the government car that Max was in the backseat of. Max looked shocked and confused as he turned his face from the broken glass coming his way. Piper went through the window to strangle him. "What did you do to my brother?"

Mischief Minder pulled her out and dusted the glass off of her. "You should ride with Charlotte and your brother, to the hospital. Captain Man and I will handle everything else."

.

Charlotte was hugging herself, but Piper wrapped an arm around her and rested her head onto her shoulder. Piper's hand was now wrapped and Henry was in what seemed like his hundredth surgery or the night. The Harts had to come from a trip. The Pages were out of the country. All the ladies had for now were each other. Charlotte was in shambles. Piper was angry, but numbing it all, in case Henry needed her to be strong, right now. Charlotte certainly did. "Captain Man is going to announce that Kid Danger is dead and that Henry got caught in the crossfire trying to help take down a vicious criminal," Piper said. "Henry was Kid Danger, after all."

Charlotte sniffled, "He made an oath never to tell."

Piper sighed and shook her head, "He's always been a guy of his word. Why did Max do this to him? Was it because he was jealous?"

Charlotte nodded, then shook her head, "It was more to it than that. He needed to deal with his problems and he never did. This escalated. Max didn't mean for this to happen."

"You're defending him?"

"I'm not! He did it, but he didn't mean to kill Henry. He was trying to fix it whenever they blasted him with the memory gun. Now, Max can't even tell you his name, much less fix this problem and I don't know that the doctors have the science to help him and we can't move him to bring him to Schwoz…" Now, Piper didn't know _what_ Charlotte was talking about. "Maybe Schwoz can bring something to him, but if Henry is too weak, Schwoz's work might hurt him more than help, and I don't know what kind of risks Henry would have wanted to take!" She cried harder and Piper reached for her hand. Charlotte had been holding on to this odd tube of gum, very tightly, which she now shoved into Piper's hand, "Here. I can't look at this anymore." Piper was about to throw it away, but Charlotte stopped her, "No! We can't let it get into the wrong hands. Those will turn someone into Kid Danger." Piper studied it, in deep thought while Charlotte babbled on, "Henry was so weak, he couldn't even blow a bubble to change himself back. He couldn't blow a bubble!" She sobbed and Piper put the gumballs away. "I should be comforting you, but you're comforting me, instead."

Piper just said, "I don't need to be comforted. I need to rage. It'll just have to wait. Take as much of this comfort as you need." Charlotte rested on Piper's shoulder and they held each other. Piper honestly couldn't tell you how she was feeling. She just hoped that Henry didn't die before she had the chance to fuss at him for almost dying.

The Harts came rushing into the hospital, Jake frantic, Siren emotional, while Piper hung back and let them commune with Charlotte over their loss. She was frustrated with the language that they were using. They kept talking about Henry in the past tense, and speaking as though nothing could be done. Sure, they didn't realize that he was Kid Danger, but she felt that even Henry deserved some pillars of faith from his loved ones. Her pear phone went off and she checked on it. Her family wasn't paying her much mind, anyway at the moment.

All of the RIP Kid Danger posts were sprinkled with the conquests of villains, taking advantage of the fact that Kid Danger had fallen and Captain Man was trying to appease the public. She fumed at these reports, grabbed her purse, which had her knives and her rope, clenched the tube of gumballs in her hand, and ducked out of the hospital, without saying anything to her brother's greif chorus.

.

Captain Man announced, "While we are all heartbroken at the loss of Kid Danger and definitely intend to properly mourn him and properly honor his memory, I also would appreciate that we also never forget the regular boy who was also attacked on tonight. Henry Hart. A link to donate to his medical services is included on the Captain Man webpage. He did his best to fight evil tonight and Swellview may lose two young heroes because of it…"

"Captain Man, what about the young woman who has been chasing down Swellview's criminals tonight and leaving them hogtied at their crime scenes?"

Captain Man shook his head, "I have no affiliation with such a person."

"Do we have the footage?" someone asked and showed video of a girl in a Kid Danger outfit, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, fighting, subduing and tying up criminals.

Captain Man shrugged, "Don't know her. Now, if you will excuse me. I have to make arrangements for Kid Danger. Thank you." He stepped off of the podium and asked Mimi, "Do you have any idea who that is?"

"Do you not?" she asked. "It's obviously Henry's little sister. She vanished from the hospital and Charlotte said that she has Henry's gumballs." Captain Man rolled his eyes. "Besides, she's been wanting to do this for how long?"

"I'm not letting another kid put their life on the line with me," he quickly said. "Go find her, back her up if you can't bring her in, then get her back to the hospital and we'll get those gumballs from her." Mimi nodded and they went separate ways.

.

Whenever Piper showed back up to the hospital, Siren fussed, "Where did you go? We were worried sick!"

Piper threw her hands up in the air and she shook her head, "I just had to clear my mind. There was a lot of uncomfortable crying and gnashing of teeth in here." She sat down next to Charlotte, who gave her an accusatory look. She simply added on, "I just had to _blow_ off some steam." She shook her hand and Charlotte noticed that her knuckles were busted.

Charlotte announced, "Well, we'll go grab food for everyone. I need some air, as well. Come on, Piper."

"But she just got back!" Siren pouted.

"I could use a buddy after tonight's scare," Charlotte said. Siren nodded and rested her head on Jake.

As soon as Piper and Charlotte were out of range, Charlotte said, "Gimme the gumballs."

"Did you see how much criminal butt I kicked tonight?" Piper asked.

"I saw you do something reckless that could have your parents burying both of their children soon!" Charlotte fussed.

"Are you kidding me? I do more dangerous stuff on a typical Saturday night than I did to clean up the Swellview streets. I'm older than Henry was when Kid Danger first appeared!"

"And now Kid Danger is dead, and Henry may be next."

"I'm tired of everybody talking to me like _I'm_ the one without perspective, here. I'm the youngest, but I'm not stupid, and I'm definitely a better fighter than HENRY. I'll be fine. I'm not giving you the gumballs back. Now, either you can support me and possibly help me to be a better heroine… Or you can refuse me and I'll be in more danger without you, yeah?"

"You know I'd never leave you stuck out, Piper. I just can't see somebody else I love get hurt. What happened to Henry… That can't happen, especially not to his little sister. I have to take care of you, now that he's down."

"Well, let's start with practicality. Do you know how to make it so I don't have to carry my rope and knives with me. Like… This gumball suit has a zapper, but I'm a terrible shot. I do better hand to hand, face to face. I just want my usual tools on my hero person."

"I'll work it out for you." Charlotte pointed her finger at Piper's face, "Do not get yourself killed!"

"I assure you, that won't happen. I've gotta be there when Henry wakes up to rub Lady Danger in his face."

"Lady Danger?"

"Imagine if I did our gender the disservice of being Girl Danger for the next however many years."

.

Henry was going to make it, but he was in a coma and they didn't know when or if he might wake up. For one thing, several of his organs had to be worked on, and he had numerous broken bones. His right arm was so badly damaged that he'd need a prosthetic, and in the event that he did wake up, the doctors all agreed that walking again would be a long work in progress.

The Harts and Charlotte were in the room from the moment he was stable enough to have visitors. Piper and Siren argued quite a bit, on whether or not Piper's "attitude" about Henry's condition was "appropriate." "If you were around Henry and I more, you'd understand that he'd _expect_ me to be this way. Henry knows who I am and loves and accepts me this way," Piper complained.

"We love you too, that doesn't excuse this behavior."

"You know what, Mom? Henry and I have done more for each other in the past few years than you and Dad have done for either of us our entire lives. So, this better not become a who cares the most about Henry competition. Because the only reason that I'm not openly as upset as all of you right now is because I ACTUALLY KNOW what Henry would want - and seeing everybody cry all over him - that's not it, Chief."

"Piper…" Henry's heartbeat accelerated and the fingers on his left hand flinched. Siren gasped and clutched her shirt, "He's moving. He's moving!"

 _Henry was devastated. For one thing- everything hurt and he felt like he wasn't attached to his body, but still somehow in pain. Ugh. The worst of worst worlds or whatever. He hept hearing Charlotte crying and begging him to wake up. He kept feeling her kiss on his hair, his face, his hands… but he couldn't see her and he couldn't reach out and comfort her… and now Piper and Mom are fighting? He couldn't stand it._

" _Please stop fighting! Piper is right. I can't stand to hear any more of this." But, just as it had been since he wound up in this terrible place - they couldn't hear him. He was in this dark place and every now and then, he'd be in the middle of a memory or something, but then he'd return to this lonely darkness where he could only hear his loved ones go back and forth about what was best for him._

 _Charlotte was refusing to leave. "You have to go to school!" He'd try to tell her. Jasper was trying to secretly give him one of those gross cleanse baths. "I did not consent to this, Jasper!"_

 _His parents cried and apologized for hours. Ray surprisingly did the same. The best visits were from Charlotte and Piper. Charlotte made him sad a lot of the time, too… but even unconscious, her presence was a comfort to him. Piper just kept it real and was entertaining. "So, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but you definitely need to wake up. Mom and Dad are driving me crazy and the only reason that they were so much more bearable before was because I always had somebody around who knew what it was like to have to live with them. If you think that you're gonna leave me alone with them, you will wake up to the fight of your life, Brother." She glanced around and whispered, "I stole your Danger gumballs. I'm doing hero chiz with them!" His finger moved and she nodded her head, "I told them that you could hear us. Well, if you wanna try to stop me from being Lady Danger, I recommend you wake up and stop me."_

" _I'm not gonna try to stop you Piper, just be careful! You can't get hurt, too. Ugh! She can't hear you Henry, you meathead!"_

 _Piper looked closer at him, "Did… You just call me a meathead, Henry?" She rushed to the door to get someone, "Hey! Henry just called me a meathead!"_

" _She heard that?" He wondered. But, whenever everyone was gathered around him and the doctor was checking him, there were no signs of changes. Siren rubbed Piper's back and Piper was frustrated._

" _I didn't imagine it. He said you meathead. He mumbled it, but I heard him."_

" _Okay, well… We'll keep an eye out for other changes."_

Whenever his family wasn't around, Schwoz would try to sneak something in to help him, little by little. Kid Danger's will and testament claimed that he wanted his family to know who he had been in the event of death or work related incapacitation. Charlotte was listed as his power of attorney, but she couldn't figure out if she wanted to tell his parents about Kid Danger yet. He was surviving, and this wasn't _necessarily_ work related. This was _her_ related. She had told them that he was trying to protect her from the attacker and got hurt. Captain Man had stated at the press conference that he was trying to help Kid Danger out of the way. At any rate, Henry Hart was a Swellview hero, fighting for his life and Charlotte Page was the person with the power to tell his family the whole truth. She just couldn't. She wanted a sign from him or something. She wanted confirmation that it would be the right thing to do.

.

Max was in a cell, in Metroburg. President Kickbutt had found and extracted each of his villain victims, wiped their memories and helped to rehabilitate them to health and a safe identity, then reintroduced them into the world. Max was being given his old memories, to try to bring him back to where he was and get him the proper help. Charlotte went to see him every week, to see if he was any closer to remembering who he was. She wanted him to remember, and she wanted him to have to look at what he'd done to Henry and to face it. She was also working with Kickbutt for various reasons, as a hero/human liaison and an ambassador to Metroburg, making sure she had any and every connection she could possibly need, in case she needed to snatch Henry out of Swellview hospital and send him to some type of advanced place for recuperation. But, she spent most of her time in Henry's hospital room.

Charlotte spent weeks doing her classwork online or via computer. Her friend Patina gave her the information of the company she used for her visits to places. Charlotte simply couldn't bring herself to leave Henry's side and both her parents and Henry's were concerned about her failing the semester so close to the end. They begged her to simply finish this one, then take a break, if she needed to. But, once she had finished this one, she resolved that she would simply handle her business in this way until Henry got better… or got worse… She blinked away those thoughts and turned off her monitor when class was over.

For the past couple of months, she had been studying medical journals in her free time, cases and studies about comatose patients and solutions and tests. Deciding on which things to allow Schwoz to try in waking Henry up and in healing him. Preparing to try to move him to her new home this summer, so that they could fall away from the hospital rules, now that he was stable enough to be transported. Bysh had brought him flowers whenever he was first allowed to have visitors. "I asked the florist for a get well bouquet that you'd get a florist," she'd said. Charlotte scanned all the flowers and told Henry just which ones were in his bouquet. But, then get well gifts started flooding in from all over Swellview, so she spent time trying to describe all of them to him and let him know how much everybody appreciated him just for thinking he tried to help Kid Danger. "Imagine if they, knew, Hen."

She tried to talk to him like he was still there. To anticipate how he'd respond to certain things and reply to that. Sometimes, his subconscious could have sworn that she could hear him, because the conversation would flow so well… But… He knew that she was simply talking to herself, wishing that he could respond.

Now, it was time to read to Henry. "So, I compiled a list of articles about the Kid Danger statue that the Mayor of Swellview is having worked on. It's almost done. I'm just gonna read you some of the…" Her Whiz Watch beeped and she looked around, set down her tablet and locked the door to answer Piper's call.


	23. Hallowed Hart

_**A/N:**_ _So, I usually throw in personal info and such whenever I'm on a story journey with readers. Hope y'all can bear with me. I work at a children's shelter. And recently, a couple of babies that had been with us for a while were able to move back into a more permanent home situation. I cried SO MUCH. I cried like I lost my own children (which I actually have had several miscarriages and this was emotionally more upsetting for me). I say all that to say this - I hope my chapter isn't too depressing. I had my feelings all over myself when I was writing._

 _Also, some chapters back, someone asked me for science and I am horrible at science, but I'm trying to throw in some Schwoz and Char creations and collaborations for you, if you're still around, Boo._

 _The songs that I listened to whenever I was writing this (none on the Family Danger Soundtrack on Spotify) were Got to Be There by Chaka Khan (There's also a Michael Jackson version) I Wanna Be Where You Are by the Jackson 5, the Glee cover of All Out of Love (originally by Air Supply), It Ain't Over Til It's Over by Lenny Kravitz. Honorable Mention: I'll Be Waiting by Adele (only because while the lyrics were so fitting, I wasn't really listening to it while I wrote)._

 **Hallowed Hart**

Whenever Max hit him with… whatever the heck he hit him with - the force? Naw… That was another world's thing. Something like the force, he guessed. Force, in general. Whatever! That was the most painful thing he'd ever felt. He barely even felt the impact of his body with the jeep, because he was already in so much pain. Then, hearing Charlotte's voice cry out like that. That was a different type of equally hurtful pain. He crumpled to the ground, unable to register words for what his body was doing. Everything felt shattered and on the way to the ground, he was certain that even that short fall was doing even more damage. She tried to gather him up and he couldn't move anything, but everything that she touched felt like he was being stabbed repeatedly in his body. He couldn't tell her to stop though. He couldn't find his voice. He was in so much pain that he couldn't speak or move and it was getting harder and harder for him to see. This was it. This was the end. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. He wanted to tell her to keep living and be happy. He could barely blink without his head throbbing. He hoped to God this wasn't how she would have to remember him for the rest of her life.

Henry heard sirens. " _Hello?" He looked around, but everything was dark. He felt like he was on fire. "God! Charlotte? Ummm, Ray?" He heard Piper's voice in the distance and couldn't make out what she was saying, but it sounded like she said, "He can't die. I know I give him a hard time, but he can't die!" He chuckled to himself. He must be on drugs. No way that Piper would say stuff like that to another human being…_

 _._

 _He went numb with the anesthesia. Best he had felt in what seemed like hours. But, it also cut him off from what everybody outside of him was saying. It brought him into some type of dream sequence. He could get with that. He was watching Charlotte and Piper meet for the first time. Piper was brooding about something or another, and Charlotte wondered, "You must be Henry's little sister, Piper! I've heard a lot about you."_

 _Piper scoffed and told her, "Henry's_ my _brother." Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows. She guessed that what Piper really meant was that from her POV, she didn't_ belong _to Henry, as his sister, or otherwise._

" _My mistake. You're Piper Hart. Tough kid, pony fanatic. I can totally relate. My folks won't get me a pony, either. What kind of pony did you want?"_

" _A white one, with pink and gold barrettes. They got me a toy instead," she said and showed Charlotte a white horse toy with the hair all chopped off._

" _Oh no! What happened to her hair?"_

" _Somebody must've been angry and cut it off with a knife. At least that's what it looks like."_

" _Sure hope that they didn't throw the hair away. We can probably reattach it with the right craft glue. They most likely weren't angry at their pretty toy horse and probably didn't mean to punish her."_

 _Piper gave her a suspicious look and wondered, "Are you sure that you're my brother's friend?"_

 _Charlotte corrected her, "Your brother's_ my _friend." Piper fought off a smile, but she liked this friend of Henry's. She wasn't a big stupid boy like her brother and Jasper. She was pretty and smart and had really cool looking hair. Henry was unsure of why he was having memories of Charlotte and Piper. Maybe because theirs were the last familiar voices that he had heard before his string of surgeries. Because he had more - the two of them at the movies together that night they defeated the Spoiler. Charlotte brushing Piper's hair and tucking her in when she first started her period, because Siren was out of town and Henry freaked out whenever she told him that she was bleeding "down there." The way that Piper confronted Charlotte after the Brawl in the Hall didn't happen and Charlotte redirected her to focus on what really mattered - that there was a girl in jail for a crime that she didn't commit and they needed to rally together to ensure that the women of Swellview had fair chances in the court of law!_

 _Henry dreamed about this sisterhood between his sister and his woman up until the moment that he heard their voices again. They had his family with them._

 _He felt his hand in both of Charlotte's. He couldn't see her, but he knew her touch, by now. Besides, nobody else he knew smelled like mangoes, pineapple, coconut, hibiscus and shea butter. He wondered if she was wearing that peach lip gloss that she'd been wearing before the fight. It was on his lips when he went down, but it was gone, now. He wanted more kisses. "My subconscious is BORING, Dude. Schwoz should send somebody in here like that other time. Let me have some company. Preferably Charlotte, but I will take Jasper, as long as he promises that Charlotte will be there. Here." He sighed and then it hurt. Ouch. Sighing hurt? His body must have been a tragic mess. WTF did that menace DO to me? I hope Ray punched a hole through his face._

Henry did a lot of sleeping. Charlotte had began to tell the difference between when he was asleep and alert, though trying to explain the difference to someone else would prove difficult. At any rate, whenever something very emotional or triggering occurred, he'd move his fingers a little bit and try to say something. So, even if nobody knew when he was lucid in there, she knew that he was able to at least be aware of things sometimes.

She woke up before the sun rose, lit candles, incense, opened the blinds, removed the resting crystals, reset the healing crystals, and gave him circulation assistance as the sun came up for the day. She tried to stay on top of his circulation, atrophy, and bed blisters. She played meditation mantras and music to awaken the psyche. She was trying everything that she could think of that didn't have risks, and weighing out the things that did have them.

Up until they transported him to her place, that hospital room was where she holed up. She needed a bigger place to accommodate him, so she moved into a house and got the guys' help with setting up everything. Her parents agreed to pay for it, if she agreed that she wouldn't let Henry's unfortunate condition keep her from finishing school. She was able to swing a deal with Metroburg, since technically one of their top heroes put her in this position. She needed to have the freedom _not_ to leave Henry, if that was what was needed. So, she took the summer as a break from school, building up FaceMask, setting up networks with heroes interested in connecting with her professionally, and whenever she planned to go back in the fall, she was hoping that Henry would be back by then.

She was surprised and annoyed to see that the guys set up the Man Cave control panel in there, but it was at least in the basement, so she felt better about it, despite the fact that meant that it was taking room out of where she intended to set up her lab.

The first room of the house served as her living room and she made it as comfortable as she could with flowers, a bowl of fruit, the couch, chairs and tables, a little apothecary in the corner, her unwatched television, and a window for the sun to come through. The kitchen and dining rooms were sort of attached to it (it was like one big wide opening with an island to separate the kitchen).

The rest of the house went in sections, each with their own doors to her bedroom, her study, her lab, and Henry's room. Her room and Henry's room were connected by a door which she removed from the hinges, so that she could keep an eye on him. He needed a lot of equipment, plus room for Schwoz to work on him whenever she allowed. She was also going to eventually have this be his physical therapy room… whenever he'd freaking wake up! Their rooms each had a door that led to the bathroom. It was pretty big and she was gonna treat that baby like a sanctuary.

By the time spring turned into summer and summer breezed by with her helping Piper remotely, since she had the means, she was starting to get pretty discouraged about ever being with Henry, ever again. He'd missed birthdays. He'd missed a few holidays. It was gonna be his 21st soon and she was so depressed that she was ready to throw out her crystals and everything else in the place and start over from scratch in trying to wake him up.

Schwoz had even sent her into his dream state, like they had to years before, but she mostly wandered around in the dark, calling his name and hearing him in the distance somewhere. She felt like she got closer to him with each try, though. And a week before his birthday, in November (about 8 months after the incident), she finally saw him.

He was standing on a bridge, watching something when she ran up to him, "Henry!"

He turned, surprised to see her. "How'd you get up here? And how are you seeing _me?"_ He turned back to what he was looking at and she looked too. It was her and him, playing with a couple of kids that were just basically the two of them when they were kids. "Our kids look different every time I imagine them, bit I always know that they're ours. I'm never gonna get to meet them."

"Because they don't exist," she said.

"Because, I'm not waking up. I've been listening to you cry for an eternity, but I can't make myself wake up, no matter how hard I want to come back to you."

"Well, I'm here now and I think that means that we're close. So, don't give up on us. Don't give up on me and don't give up on yourself. Hamilton and Charlotte deserve to be born properly and to meet you."

He turned and looked at her confused, "Who?"

"Our children!"

"Why are they Hamilton and Charlotte. Those aren't the names I designated to them."

"Uh, if I'M carrying someone full term, I'M naming them. But you get dibs on the middle names."

"But… does this mean? Oh my God, Char!" He rushed to hug her and kiss her. "I thought you were another mirage."

"There's gotta be a light or something that you can come towards."

"Doesn't a light mean death? I avoid going into the light. Should I be going towards it?"

She thought for a while, "I don't know. Conditions are different than whenever you were stuck in your subconscious before. This time you already know. This time pain nor fear will likely wake you up. I don't know what to do. But, I'll figure it out, and I will meet you on this bridge until you're looking at me face to face again."

He started crying, "Please be real."

"I promise that I am. Do you want to hear me recite a chapter from my engineering class? There's no way that your brain will say the things that I'll say…"

"Maybe next time. Maybe lead with it when I see you again. Because, you've put Hamilton and Charlotte into my awareness now, so I could just recall that." She nodded. "Wwwwhhhy do _you_ get to name one after you but _I_ don't?"

"Henry can be Hamilton's middle name, Hen."

"Okay, but can we call him Hank?"

She frowned, "That's a grown man's nickname. Why don't _you_ be Hank? I was gonna call him Hams or Hammy until he's old enough to insist that I stop."

"And can Charlotte be called Henley?"

"If that's her middle name, sure."

"Henry and Henley," he said.

She smiled, "Thank God. I was scared that you'd want her to be Henrietta."

He laughed. "Is that even a real name?"

They were laughing when she heard the breaking news alert from the control panel. "I've got Man Cave work…" she announced sadly.

"Go. They need you."

She gave him a tight hug and they held onto each other until she opened her eyes and sat up from the device. Henry was still in the same position. She rushed to see what their friends might need.

.

"I have a suggestion. Scrap that entire plan completely and go with mine," Piper said. Ray clenched his fists. _This child is insufferable!_ "Think about it this way - when have _I_ been wrong verses you being wrong?"

"It's not about whether or not I'm wrong! It's about I'm the boss! God, I need Henry back."

Her face distorted at this comment and he immediately regretted it. "Even if Henry were to wake up right now, you'd _still_ be wrong and I wouldn't let him go along with your STUPID plan, either. Following you has gotten him hurt enough." Ray was wounded by that low blow. Piper raised an eyebrow, moving on from the vicious comment, and pointed to the rest of the team, "If you _all_ agree with Mr. Manchildster, I'll go along with his STUPID plan and just have to make it work."

Schwoz said, "I'm with the scary girl."

Jasper bit his lip and said, "Henry would follow Ray, so I'm going to go with his plan."

They all looked at Mimi, "I'm the tie breaker?" She sighed. _Piper's idea was better, bit Ray was sensitive, especially since Henry was gone. He very begrudgingly allowed this child into the Man Cave collective on guilt alone for what happened to her brother and the pressure of her fighting crime on his terf without his blessing made him worry that he may be outdone. He was off his game from the moment he watched Henry's body turned into a lifeless heap. He saw him like that every time this girl transformed. He didn't know what to even do. See a shrink? Have to tell said shrink that he's Captain Man? Maybe in Metroburg…_ "This time around, maybe we'll go with Piper's plan," Mimi said. She saw the hurt in his face. _Betrayal._ "She's really thought about it and I think it has merit."

Schwoz commented, "All the smart people see it."

"SMART PEOPLE! _I'm_ calling Charlotte!" Ray said.

Piper made a face, "There's no way Charlotte takes your side over mine. We're family."

Charlotte opened the comm, "This better be a real emergency. I'd finally gotten through to Henry…"

"You did?" Piper asked, rushing to the screen, "How is he? Can he hear us? Does he know what's happening?"

"He's lonely. He can hear us and he knows. What's the emergency?"

"Manchildster is bothering you to side with him in Planned It of the Apes." Mimi fought off a chuckle. _Such a firecracker._

Charlotte sighed and said, "Schwoz, don't tell me whose is which. Give me both plans." At the end, she said, "Plan A. Did I get it right?"

Ray fumed, "No. You let Swellview down, Charlotte!"

Piper pulled out her gumballs and said, "Stop your stewing and get to chewing…" she gasped, "Oh no! He's rubbing off on me!"

"Shut up and blow the bubble," he muttered. Then, asked Charlotte, more quietly, "Hey… does he hate me?"

"We didn't talk long, but I doubt it. You're one of the most important people in his life."

"But, the last thing we did was argue. He said he was going to leave and I tore into him. I even told him that he was just a phase for you. I was nasty to him, Charlotte. The next thing I know, he's fighting for his life. If I had just released him whenever he first started having doubts…"

"Then he might have been attacked here instead of there. It wasn't your fault, Ray. Now, go blow a bubble and keep his sister out of trouble." She blew him a kiss and waved before ending the connection.

.

"Pagemaster. Come in Pagemaster!" She heard on the communications of the control panel. She rushed to it and put up her Pagemaster screen to connect on her FaceMask side.

"Pagemaster, here."

"Multiple S.O.S. locations have been simultaneously activated on FaceMask. I need confirmation as to the authenticity, in case it's some type of technical error."

She scanned her systems, "Not finding any bugs in the system. Let me see if I can access surveillance near any of the S.O.S. areas…" She scanned for available nearby surveillance to all of the locations, "At least three are currently valid, so I say let's give them all the benefit and get heroes dispatched for backup, pronto!" She monitored to see if any were answering the calls and was relieved when they were able to connect heroes in need with resources to help them. "Somebody's life got saved tonight," she said, aloud.

"Have you always been this… radiant?" she heard Henry ask, groggily. It was so clear, it was like he was in the room. She smiled and was gonna thank the "Henry on her shoulder," but when she heard him cough, she turned and saw him, on the monitor that she had in his room, for when she had to be down here in the basement.

"Henry?" She said. He smiled, weakly and she rushed up the stairs, as fast as her little legs could take her and into his room. He was holding his side with his working hand. "Henry… Are you awake, or just sleep talking randomly?" He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her with a puzzled expression. "You're awake!" She pressed a button that was connected to the doctor's private line, for this particular instance, then called his parents, then Piper, then Jasper, then Ray…

Things were moving much too fast for Henry. He felt like he couldn't really process everything around him yet… Like his entire body was adjusting to a new life, or something. "Where am I? What is?" He looked down at himself and his pulse accelerated, "What the fah…? Char? What happened to me? Did I get hit by a vehicle? Did I miss graduation?"

She furrowed her eyebrows and rubbed his arm, "Try to relax. We can discuss what happened, but try to relax. You've been in a coma for 13 months," she said. "But… What's the last thing that you remember? Surely not _graduation!"_

"No, I don't remember graduation! That means I missed it!" He was lamenting, "I worked really hard to barely pass a lot of classes for many years just to be able to walk across the… Oh My GOD! I can't walk, can I? What happened to me? Did it happen after prom? That's the last thing I remember. You didn't go, because you had some stupid college visit," he was babbling, fussing, freaking out, despite her suggestion for him to relax and his vitals had the machines beeping madly.

"Well, you didn't miss graduation, so that's the good news, and I suppose it ends there. Because, you've been in this condition for 13 months, but the incident happened nearly two years after graduation. You're… missing about 3 years, Hen." She blinked away tears, but he couldn't stop his. He wasn't bawling or anything. The tears just fell from his still face. She leaned up and held him close to herself, against her bosom, being the strength that they both needed, because she certainly didn't feel very empowered at the moment.

 _13 Months. 3 Years. Those numbers seemed small in other context, but in this - missing so much of his life?_ He'd been laying there, well not _there_ the entire time, but laying down, unable to move or speak, with the exception of a few times when Charlotte laid close to him and he gathered her in his sleep, like he'd do at times when he wasn't in a coma. She'd initially thought that he was coming out of it when he first did that, but no luck, and now, here he was. He had heard what everyone was saying to him, but he couldn't remember everything, and what he could remember, he figured were all just "coma dreams." It was hard for him to remember anything about the time before the attack. He remembered most of life, but the years before the attack were fuzzy for him, or down right missing. That was tough, for Charlotte. He didn't really remember their official relationship, or even developing feelings for her! _There's always something._

Charlotte didn't want to try to just shoot information at him and hope to trigger something. He already had the trauma, plus the coma, the awakening - really, so many things to deal with that she wasn't going to add on. She told everyone about the condition and asked them to follow suit. She'd read that trying to make amnesiacs remember could cause more problems for them. All that was important now was his recovery. One thing at a time.

His family arrived some time after the doctor left and Charlotte was able to tell them everything that was said. _Oh yeah, she's been studying medical journals,_ he recalled from her telling him. He believed that he'd regain them. She didn't want to push him, so she wasn't really giving him anything to stir it up. She wanted him to genuinely remember, and not to accidentally fabricate ideas of what they had. The only good thing for her was that he wouldn't immediately remember their stupid last breakup… But, he also wouldn't remember being ready to leave Swellview for her… And who knows if that would happen again without the stupid breakup! She was frustrated. Not with him, just… with this hand that they were dealt. _Are we star-crossed or something?_ Henry felt like her soul mate. She had just spent a year being a recluse in order to nurse him herself and to stay near, so that when he returned, she would be there. Now, here they were, and she couldn't even quantify whether or not he even felt the way about her that he did when he fell unconscious.

"So, what did I miss?" He asked the group, and was a little surprised to see Charlotte's parents there. They hardly came along for anything, as far as he knew. Everyone was talking while Charlotte was in the background, lighting incense and candles, making sure there was water in the AC's diffuser, chopping fruit, and making assorted fruit dips. Henry noticed her. He was distracted by her movements while everyone else was totally focused on him, alone. She seemed distant. Strange. Like, she had a lot on her mind. He almost felt like maybe she wasn't happy to see him, but that couldn't even be true.

He hated this. Knowing that Charlotte had been by his side, almost nonstop for 13 months was both jarring and sobering. He could never repay her that time out of her life. She missed out on several school experiences. She missed out on classes with labs. She took a break for the summer. She lost a grant. He was miserable just thinking of the things that she must have sacrificed to change his waste bag (which he was still confused as to why he had one, when he wasn't eating, but apparently could still produce waste, even though not necessarily a lot, ugh), the sponge baths that he couldn't stop blushing when he heard about, and tend to his bed blisters? Surely, she had to be glad that was over!

He shouldn't have listed her as Kid Danger's power of attorney. This was super unfair to her, best friend or not, to have had to feel obligated to take care of him this way, and now she probably resented him. He was awake and she didn't even talk to him while everyone else was so happy to do so. "What about you, Char? Anything you loved in the past 3 years that I missed and nobody else mentioned?"

She let out a chuckle at the heavens that he would ask that. _You,_ she thought. _I loved YOU, and you missed it._ Out loud, she told him, "Whatever they said," and shrugged her shoulders. Her watch beeped and she saw that it was time for his sponge bath. She showed him the alert and he blushed again, "I think it can wait until visits are over," she said and squeezed his shoulder. With his good hand (well, his left, anyways), he put a hand on hers, about to say that he could probably do it himself with this one hand, but he noticed a bracelet on his wrist.

"What is this bracelet?" It was kind of iridescent, with three layers and a stone at the top. He didn't remember getting it, so maybe it was gifted to him over the last few years or something.

Charlotte awkwardly said, "It's red jasper and rose quartz. I made it to try to give you a settled mind and spirit while your body rested," _And for love and togetherness,_ she didn't want to add.

"Is that a primrose pendant, hanging from the stone?' He asked, with a sparkle in his eyes as he looked at Charlotte's reaction to him recognizing it.

She smiled and nodded, "Cute, right?" She felt even more awkward that she knew that everyone in the room knew about Henry's primroses for her and her rose quartzes for him..

He realized that, at that moment and sighed, "Char… I am so sorry… We? You and me?" He asked. Her face fell and everyone in the room looked equal portions sympathetic and relieved that Henry at least had this piece of information. _But,_ though he didn't remember it, he was more than happy about it. "So, you actually officially agreed to be mine?" He teased her.

He didn't know what else to say. She seemed really upset, and he knew she was probably frustrated with him, but she kept saying that she was just glad that he was finally back… But, if he couldn't even remember a huge portion of his life, he technically wasn't _back._ He didn't feel like he was back. He felt like he was watching things through somebody else's eyes. Somebody with deteriorating muscles, with a colostomy bag and an arm filled with pins and needles… And now, finding out that in the past few years, his gorgeous best friend and he had become _primrose level_ involved, it honestly hurt and frustrated him. "At least now I know why you were willing to take a break from your life for me."

"I would have been here for you anyway, Hen." But, she knew that she probably wouldn't have been, if it wasn't all her fault, in the first place. She NEVER should have given Max enough room to escalate things. "Well, I'm gonna let everyone have some time with you. You're probably tired of hearing my voice. I talked non-stop while you were sleeping." She got up and her parents were going to follow, "I'm actually gonna jump in the tub, but help yourselves to anything, everyone." She left the room, not wanting anybody to see her start crying, and for the first time since she moved in here, shut the door between her bedroom and that one.

.

Everyone had a nearby hotel room, but nobody wanted to leave. Henry set up one on one times for everybody, because even though he was tired after a while, he actually never wanted to sleep again. The first thing that he physically took into his body was a cup of yerba mate that Charlotte gave him when he asked her if he could trouble her for coffee. "I don't keep coffee in this house," she told him, and returned after a while with a hot electric kettle and a seeper that she put what looked like grass into it.

She fetched agave and warned him that he might fill his bag, but he quickly said, "I'll figure out how to change it until we get it removed…"

She made a face, unsure of why he would think that she expected that from him, but just replied, "Buzz me if you need anything else. That's the buzzer."

He was with Ray, Schwoz and Jasper at the time. Their parents were gone and would be back the next day and Piper was in Charlotte's room, being there for her, because she knew that Char needed it more than Henry needed another body at his bedside. She was gonna just spend the night and cuddle up with her 'sis.'

"Sooo… Charlotte's not really saying much to me about the whole.. Me and her thing. What was that about? Like… The last thing I remember was that she said something like _It's just a stupid high school prom and it's not like anybody asked me or anything,_ before she sold the dress that she made for prom online because she was gonna be visiting her new school."

"Well, she went to school and it was great and she loved it, then you made a move on her and turned her whole world upsidedown," Schwoz said.

"Schwoz!" Ray and Jasper called.

"What? It is what happened. Charlotte didn't want to date Henry, but she gave him a chance and possibly threw away a wonderful science career to help him recover."

Ray raised a fist and Schwoz hit the floor, terrified. "What Schwoz MEANT to say was that Charlotte thought she wanted something, and she realized that she wanted you there, with her. You guys tried a few ways and weren't doing great. I don't even know if it was meant to be."

Jasper sighed and said, "Real talk, Henry. Before you got attacked, you were getting ready to come here. You told me yourself that you were gonna stop being Kid Danger, then you told Ray that you were quitting, so you could be with Charlotte."

Ray's jaw tightened. He was still sore about it, but he would never tell Henry that, now. Not with how he felt about how he handled it before. He simply nodded, to confirm for a confused Henry.

"I… Quit? I quit being Kid Danger?"

Schwoz said, "Well, if you wouldn't have quit, you would have had to after this debacle. Captain Man told everyone that Kid Danger was killed in a fight."

Henry gasped and Ray fussed, "Schwoz! No more talking! Go stand in the corner!" He nodded and shrugged, "But yeah, we didn't know if you were gonna make it and there was no way that people would believe any excuse that we'd give that would justify you and Kid Danger falling miserably in the same night. So, I said that he died and you were injured trying to help him. He's now a Swellview legend." Henry looked so depressed. "But, when you get healed up, you can reinvent yourself and always come back. I always said that you can come back whenever you want!" Henry could tell from Schwoz and Jasper's faces that Ray said the exact opposite of that. "Besides, your sister drives me nuts. She's so bossy!" Henry's eyes went wide. He _had_ dreamed that Piper was the new Kid Danger! It wasn't a dream! That really happened?!

"Umm… But… Is she any good?" he asked, feeling less and less confident about his entire existence with every new thing he was told.

Ray grinded his teeth, "She's so good it makes me _sick!"_

"Well, with Charlotte being her ace, how can she not be?" Jasper asked, then explained to Henry, "Charlotte was helping Piper before she connected with the Man Cave, and she has upgraded her suit, does her backup, all the stuff that Charlotte would suggest to Ray before that you and him shot down, Piper welcomed it. She's the best hero Swellview has ever had."

"Well…" Ray started. He groaned, "That's an opinion, Jasper! An opinion!"

"There was a poll," Jasper reminded him.

"It had a slant!"

"Everyone in Swellview voted and she won unanimously," Schwoz said.

"You're supposed to be in the corner!" Ray snapped.

.

Henry didn't _want_ to buzz for Charlotte for anything. She'd done enough! But, there was no way that he was reaching that itch and Schwoz told him that his new arm would take a week. He looked at the line of crystals at his bedside - amethyst, smoky quartz, selenite, red jasper, rose quartz, and citrine. He didn't know the names of them or what they did, but Charlotte had put them there to help his recovery and he was up for anything at the moment. He sighed and pressed the button that she told him to. She came rushing in, so concerned that he felt bad for asking, "I'm so sorry… I have an itch that I can't get to.." Relief. She was glad nothing serious had happened.

When she was scratching for him, he stared at her. "The coma dreams that I can remember make a lot more sense, now. I hope to get back to what we were." He looked down at himself, at his legs that he could hardly move and shook his head, "I mean, of course, not anytime soon. I've wasted enough of your life."

"Can you please stop saying things like that Henry? Nobody made me take you in. Nobody made me stay by your side. I love you and I wanted to do it. Don't insult me by acting like you're some burden to me."  
"You missed out on things. Jasper told me that nobody saw you unless they came to visit me. My mom said that your parents tried to bribe you to stay in school, because you were trying to dedicate yourself to me full time, and you got one of those carry monitors that Patina L and her weird nurse used just to take your classes." She frowned. "Piper said you never shut that door and that whenever you tried to sleep, it took weeks for you to get used to the sounds of the machines that were keeping me alive, because you were worried that if you shut the door and fell asleep, you might not hear me if there was some kinda change."

"Way to not bombard you with information," she sarcassed.

"I asked them all questions. A lot of questions. Jasper told me that I was getting ready to leave Swellview and move in with you. Are you… Do you still want that? Because, whether or not I remember, I can still be honorable."

"Hen, I don't want you to feel obligated. I want for both of us to want it. I want for both of us to mean it. I don't want you to feel pressured or forced into it."

"Like you were into taking care of me?"

"I've already told you that I wanted to do that!"

"Then, why are you so mad? I'm not trying to attack you. I just… if this was the other way around, I don't know if I could have done this for you."

"That's because you can't remember us." She sniffled, "But, if you trust me, trust that I believe with all my heart that you would have made sure that I was taken care of. And I don't think you would have felt like I needed to repay you for it. You don't have to feel like you owe it to me to stay here."

"I don't. I feel like I owe it to myself. Look, I hate that I can't remember us. I've imagined it before and I definitely dreamed about you. And I know _me._ If I was willing to give up my life, I had to realize that I was trading it in for something better. I know I couldn't have let go of Kid Danger without a fight with myself and if this life with you is what I chose, it's still what I choose. But, I do understand if you don't want that with.. this… version of me. I can't remember anything. My body is useless. I wouldn't want me either, if I were you."

"I will always want you. Does it hurt that I feel like I've lost you? Yeah. But, we're best friends first and foremost, right?"

"Right. That'll never change. Our friendship just took a little detour," he said. She let her tears fall at that glimpse into the Henry that she knew and loved, and he looked at her softly, desperate to know how his bestie - tough and independent Char wound up _this_ attached to him and this emotional for him. He reached for her and she settled into his side and fell asleep (her first peaceful sleep in a while, honestly). Henry kissed her on the forehead. It felt familiar and also _right_. Yeah, this would be what he wanted. He belonged here. He just hoped that he got everything back that he lost, everything that he gave up everything for.

.

Henry got Charlotte to get his "electronic sketch journal" for him. He'd kept it in a small safe and in his legal living will with her instructions of how to access my access it in the event of his death. So, she never accessed it before (and would have struggled to force herself to do so if he had died, if she was being honest). But, it was basically just a second pear pad which he used only for his journaling. Most of them were either videos of him as he drew sketches, electronic artwork, videos of stuff he'd caught for memories, and a few of the entries were just his writing what happened or his feelings. He didn't like to write. He'd draw a comic of something before writing a paragraph. He had _so many_ sketches of Char that it blew his mind. And when he searched for his entries with her name in them for the past 3 years, he learned a lot about what he missed (from himself), which meant more, because he knew that nobody was ever going to see these videos unless he was dead, so he'd never held anything back.

She had to give him his current password: (Ch rl0tte.s_H !r), which made him search his entries for "Charlotte's Hair," and quite frankly, it surprised him that he had so much to say about it! _But, glancing at her as she attempted to cook, he understood that totally. Her hair was freaking amazing._

One entry was how he'd accidentally upset her by asking her why she never straightened it, and how he'd _on his own volition_ researched "natural hair movement" - something he'd heard her say in her rant about of he wanted straightened hair, there were plenty of girls with straight hair he could go bother - and he wound up looking up several other things about hair politics, hair policing… Like, he was straight up down a rabbit's hole and not only wound up apologetic for asking her about it, but kinda pissed that she had to even deal with mess like that. Her hair was perfect. He wasn't even suggesting she needed to straighten it. He was just curious. Anyway, one of the first things he taught himself was that he was crazy about her hair.

The next was the evolution of their relationship. She was involved with some guy that he hated, and he had to admit, even not being there, he could tell from his own tone that he was just jealous. He was salty. Big. Mad. That she was with this seemingly perfect dude for her that wasn't him. So, presently, he traced the date to having feelings for her to about 4 months after graduation. It was 5 months after that he kissed her for the first time. _How did I know that I was the one to make a move?_ But, it went fast. And her ex dude kinda made it not happen like Henry would have wanted. He was mad at the dude all over again. _Sucks that his hot sister died though. Dang._

When he got to the end of his entries, it was a really poignant and surreal thing to watch. He looked different than he remembered looking and different than he looked right now. He'd watched himself age and bulk up some for a couple of years and now, with his current situation, he didn't even want to glance at his reflection. But, his last entry was really sweet.

"So, I have decided to leave Swellview. Like, it's tough to think about and the future is uncertain, but I've already had Swellview without Char and to be frank - it just wasn't worth it. I still totally love the place and Ray and my job, but I don't love it enough to keep having it without her. She's taken me back again and I sincerely don't want anything else in between us. We've had enough stumbling blocks. I just wanna wake up and see her face and do some dirty things to her before she leaves for the day and be able to do similar things before we go to bed at night. I mean, I want more than that, but it's a big deal. I've thought about what that means for Swellview and well - Ray has Mimi right now. Besides, if by some horrible chance Char and me still can't work out, I can always come back. Ray said that I can't. But he's lying. He doesn't even want me to go and I'm irreplaceable, let's be honest." He laughed. "Char keeps asking me if I'm sure about this. She's so convinced that I love "the Danger" more than I love us. Stay tuned, because I'm about to do the impossible - Gonna prove Charlotte Page wrong!" He laughed and ended the recording. Henry wiped his nose with the back of his arm then looked at it, annoyed. Ugh. He was now gonna make Charlotte have to deal with his snot?

.

Charlotte was grateful that Henry hadn't eaten good food in a while, because it made her skills acceptable, though whenever she was cooking, he was generally around, offering her pointers from his wheelchair. He was gradually regaining memories, too. Schwoz was trying to help with that and with quick fixes to go with his physical training.

The arm was the most important. Schwoz infused Henry's arm bones with a malleable metal and gave it an operating system. Charlotte watched the whole process, so she'd be familiar with the mechanical prosthetic, just in case. Henry kinda loved it, but it felt like it wasn't his. He could feel what it was doing, but he couldn't always feel _with_ it. For instance, when he had to go to the bathroom and wipe. Like.. was that really his butt? He felt it at the butt, but it didn't feel like the hand actually touched it. But, it did serve well for 'giving himself a stranger.'

The best thing about the arm was that it could be other things. At Charlotte's request and following her designs, Schwoz built in the weapons and communications that he previously needed devices for whenever he was Kid Danger. "I don't understand why, since Kid Danger is dead," he said, before Schwoz directed him to test it out.

Charlotte offered, "If things go as planned, the intelligence of the biomechanism will get used to your brain waves and match them to commands." He looked confused, "You'll be able to think the command and perform it without vocally ordering it." Henry's eyes widened with wonder.

Schwoz said, "He has yet to even voice command, so I wouldn't get ahead of myself, Charlotte…"

"Zap," Henry said and instantly zapped Schwoz from his arm. "Whoa! How?" He asked and Schwoz held himself in pain.

Charlotte explained, "So, he used a malleable metal to meld into the damages Max made to your bones. You raised your arm defensively and it took the onset of the attack. The doctors wanted to remove it, but your request was that if any limbs could be spared, spare them and I quote, 'Get Schwoz to make me a cyborg one or something,' SO - he wanted to do it while you were down, but the possible rejection of the metal solution by your system could have given you an infection that I wasn't comfortable with chancing."

"I meant how did the arm zap Schwoz, Charlotte," Henry said impatiently and she threw him a look, "But, I'm sure you were getting to it."

"So," she continued, with a little attitude, "I started studying your Xrays and designing the arm. There was a huge slit in your forearm where the bone broke out of the skin. In my design, we open that wound and use the metal solution to bridge it. So, when you command," She raised his arm, and nodded her head.

"Uh… Call Ray?" They watched as what looked like a metal scar on his forearm liquefied and a small circle came forth, which released a hologram of Ray. "Whoa!"

"And, the metal doesn't disturb your wound when it does it's function," she added.

Ray cheered, "Am on on the Whiz Arm?"

"We're not calling it that," Charlotte said.

"The Robo-arm," Schwoz corrected.

"Nope," Charlotte said. "Henry's arm. It is Henry's arm. It's literally his arm and you put a biomechanical device into it and it integrated with his body and became a part of his arm."

"I like Robo-arm," Ray said, ignoring her. "A Robo-arm for our RoboKid."

"RoboKid Danger!" Schwoz cheered.

"Kid Danger is dead," Henry said and shut off the hologram and pressed the button to roll out of the room. Charlotte sighed and looked at Schwoz, "It's not your fault, Schwoz. To him, Kid Danger was suddenly taken away from him. He hasn't had the time that the rest of us had to properly grieve that loss, and it's also a bigger loss for him, because in his mind, he never gave that up. But, just let's not say roboarm or robokid or anything like that again." Schwoz nodded his head.

"So, Henry's arm? That's so unoriginal."

"You have a machine called a Between the Toe Scratcher!" She said, irritated.

"There is nothing else with that name! It's original!" He insisted.

Charlotte found Henry out on the patio, looking up at the sky. "Your dad was talking about stars and stuff when they were here last. He knew like every star up there, I think. He said that when you were a baby, that they ordered one of those "Name a Star" thingies for you."

"Yeah, well, he's an astrophysicist, so…" She shrugged and Henry just nodded, still staring up there. She gestured at his lap and asked, "Mind if I sit?"

He finally looked away from the stars to smile at her, "I would love that."

She sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around him. "Sorry about what happened in there. They were really excited and they didn't really think about how those comments might affect you." He looked sad but he shrugged, like it was no big deal. "Well, Schwoz left, but if you have any questions or concerns, I should be able to address them." He nodded. She sighed, seeing something was still wrong with him. "And if you want to talk about anything else, I'm also here for that."

"In 13 months I missed two of your birthdays, but I also lost two more of them. It's one of my favorite days of the year, is all." He pulled her tight against him and she gave him a confused look. "I want to be better for your next one. I want to be able to walk and move on my own. I want to be able to use my powers again. I want to be as much of myself as I can be, because that's who you fell for and who you deserve. Right now, not only am I not the man you fell for, I'm not even the man that I knew myself to be, and… Kid Danger is _dead,_ I feel like I died and was reborn as some kind of ghastly doppelganger with remnants of the past, but not Henry Hart's soul, nor Kid Danger's." He cried, "And, I don't know myself anymore and I didn't get a chance to know everyone else via the changes that they made during my lost time. But, I know that you're here now, with me and while I figure it out, I've got the best support system in the universe. All those stars out there and the only one that I care about is Charlotte." She started crying and he kissed her clavicle. "Don't cry. I didn't mean to…"

"No. It's just that you think that you're not that man, but I promise you, I see him every single moment that I look at you."


	24. Interview with the Hometown Hero

_Play by Goapele is the song that Charlotte is listening to in the bathroom. Writing Soundtrack this chapter: That's When I'll Stop Loving You by N'Sync (Which I started listening to last chapter, actually and just brought it all through this one with me and probably WILL put on the soundtrack), Make Me Whole by Amel Larrieux (which is actually mentioned in the chapter, in case y'all wanna go check out that song and the lyrics. I honestly will probably put it on the soundtrack too, especially where they are in their relationship right now). I'm Gonna Make You Love Me by the Temptations and the Supremes, I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston, and the star lyrics of the chapter: Please Don't Leave Me by Pink._

 _We're nearing the end of our dark days. I don't have smut, but I do have this photo that gave me smut ideas that I might try to post to the mysamcedesmadness tumblr, if they don't flag and hide it! I'm soon gonna do a Family Danger Charlotte Aesthetic and likely put it on that._

 **Interview with the Hometown Hero**

Whenever Charlotte assisted Henry with anything physical, he couldn't help but notice that she was pretty strong. She could practically pick up his body without much effort, she placed him where he needed to be with perfect ease, and she rarely broke a sweat with it. "Man, you have either been hoisting me too long or drinking the heck out of some milk!" He awkwardly commented as she helped him into the tub. _He could hardly wait until he was able to do this by himself._

"Flipping you around without displacing any of your tubes required a special finesse. Guess I adjusted."

"I feel like an overgrown baby."

"You're getting healthier everyday. I know it doesn't seem like much, but the fact that you're wiggling toes and circling your feet is very good, Henry. There's no reason to believe that you won't walk again and I'm on team sooner rather than later."

"I'm on team 'right now.'"

"Well, that team is unreasonable. Not even Schwoz has the technology for that!"

"But… you're smarter than him," he said. She fought off the goofy smile that her mouth wanted to give him. "He's admitted it himself, and I've seen the stuff that you're designing in your lab notebooks."

Her smile left. "Spying on my work, Hen?" She didn't want him to get his hopes up about something that she wasn't very sure about. He wanted to use his legs so badly and she wasn't 100% confident in those plans, or rather the execution of them.

"Just wondering why if you believe that I'll be complete on my own, that you have plans for mechanical leg braces."

"Because you're not the entire world, Henry. _Your_ legs will be fine, on their own. The next guy's might not. And I'd like to be the change that I wanna see in this place. So, while I may have began designs with you in mind, just because _you_ won't need them (and you won't), doesn't mean that they won't be needed by someone." But, now that he brought this up, she bit her lip and tilted her head, "I've been thinking about using those schematics as my doorway back into the elite circles at the science institution, though. What… What would you think about that?"

"I think you never should have gotten _outside_ of the elite circles in the first place. That's really unfair for you. Your work was so important to you. I said in my journals that you put your work ahead of me and of us, all the time. I wouldn't want you to change that just because I had something happen to me."

She scoffed, "You more than had something happen. Your body was crushed, instantaneously, right in front of me. I thought that I was watching you die. Nothing could have been more important than that, to me. With that being said and understood, now that you're back and getting better; I do want to try to catch up with my goals. A year behind for me is like…"

"Like five years for a normal person," he said. "But, you still had classes and stuff."

"Yeah, classes _only_. I couldn't go into labs. I couldn't give demonstrations in person. I couldn't bid for grants. I was able to take classes, hear lectures, anything that I could do without leaving you, I did… But, it really cut me down from where my vision was. Even in the academic world, who you know and how much you rub elbows, does have an effect on certain opportunities." She looked off into the distance somewhere that Henry couldn't really follow her.

"Sorry, Dude."

She blinked and looked at him again, "No. Don't be. I didn't mean it that way. Just in a general information kind of way."

"I wish I could do something to make up for it."

"There's nothing to make up, but I might need a favor, if you're so inclined?"

"Anything for you, Char."

She smiled and blushed a little bit, "Well, if I use the schematics, I may need a test subject. I would have to make sure that you're healthy enough to…"

"I'm in. I wanted those bionic legs anyway!"

"Please don't get your hopes up, Hen. I'm not as smart as you probably imagine. They're just braces."

"Braces that work and strengthen the muscles anytime you wear them. I am in, Char. Everything that I've ever seen you do has been amazing. The changes that you've made in the Man Cave, alone and everything that you've done to make this house such a safe space for us? I don't want to get my hopes up, but it's hard not to when I know what you can do."

She stood up and pointed to the panel, "I made some adjustments to the panel, now that you mention that. Put your birth hand on it."

He sighed and placed his left hand on the screen. "Birth hand" sounded so weird to him. She could have just said left. She told Schwoz not to call his right arm a robo-arm, but she's calling his left hand his birth hand...

Charlotte's computerized voice stated, "Water is 92% optimal for your core body temperature, Henry. I will warm it to optimal satisfaction. Would you also like additives? May I suggest oatmeal and honey for your skin? I detect rashes, blisters, and excessive dryness."

"I'd love both, Showelette," Henry said, smiling.

"You've got it! Processing additives to proper measurements for your skin health needs."

Henry smiled, "You're a wellness goddess, Char."

She shrugged off the compliment, "I try to make the things that will make life easier on us."

"I love this house. The CharShack is gonna be more advanced than the Man Cave."

She cleared her throat and said, "It kinda already is." It was just much smaller. She had a control panel that she made changes on herself in order to accommodate the Man Cave _and_ Piper, off script, if needed, plus she routed all of her SoulDates and FaceMask networking there, and had a direct line to President Kickbutt, the V Force Center, and Max's lab because it was given to her by the Thundermans after his breakdown. In her home alone, (which Henry called "The CharShack") she had an interactive computer system and panels to communicate with it in each room, though there was a voice command to make it respond without touch.

Every invention that she purchased or was gifted via captured villains from her Souldates networking, she would always study and either dismantle and recreate it better, or make adjustments to improve them. But, she also made her own things and tested them out in her Charteau (That was what _she_ called home, in her mind. Not out loud, for somebody else to actually hear and possibly crack jokes).

The irony was that with Henry how he was, all of those other things were simply background to her lifestyle of taking care of him. She was possibly one of the most powerful humans because of these connections, and she simply just felt like a girl from Swellview with access to a lot of projects, with the greater purpose of helping the love of her life recover.

.

The physical therapist that Henry trained with was from Metroburg. Charlotte connected with her on FaceMask months ago and now that Henry was awake, they were using her services. Henry was doing alright on his own, but he was still discouraged, because this recovery wasn't happening fast enough for him. His memory wasn't being restored fast enough. His muscles weren't being restored fast enough. His worth as a person, which had always been tied into his role as Kid Danger, was dead to him, and Charlotte telling him that his mindset might negatively affect his success just made him feel worse, whether or not it was true.

Plus, she was looking so good, all the time. She had always been cute, but the glow up now was relevant to every desire within Henry. He watched her for extended periods of time when she was working or studying. Sometimes when she meditated or just laid down reading. And, GOD - when she was doing yoga! She was so beautiful and he didn't feel worthy.

In the back of his mind, she had to feel the same thing. He'd said in his journaling that she sometimes seemed like she knew she was too good for him. He could only imagine what she felt like now. She said she loved him and she seemed to. But, like… how? She was brilliant, gorgeous, doing very well for herself and in perfect health. He was… someone whose dead weight was crushing her dreams. At least, he felt like it. They hadn't really discussed where they stood with each other. She was very focused on getting him better and though she commonly told him she loved him, they weren't physically intimate. Their affection could easily be compared to that of long term friends, and he saw other people noticing her all of the time. He didn't remember them dating, but he knew he was a jealous person in general. That was amplified for him when it came to Charlotte. He felt super aggressive towards anybody flirting with her or even just checking her out… even though officially, they hadn't discussed what they were right now. That bothered him too. Why hadn't she brought it up?

Maybe it was because she felt like he was going through enough already, but maybe… she felt like she'd given him enough, it had costed her too much, and she just wanted him well and out of her house so she could go back to living like she wanted to. He hated thinking these things. He was never super pessimistic, but he did have moments of feeling sorry for himself in the past, and now, well… that was amplified too.

He frequently created scenarios in his head of how and why Charlotte didn't want him and probably hated him for her educational career going off track. He no longer felt like himself and not even Jasper's motivational speeches helped. In fact, those made him feel worse, so he started avoiding Jasper. He started avoiding everyone. Nobody wanted to impose if he "didn't feel like entertaining anybody but Charlotte right now." So, he was able to successfully isolate himself and admittedly create an unhealthy bubble for the two of them. It was similar to the one she created when he was in the coma, but this one had much more arguing involved. He knew that his insecurities were the main cause, but he didn't know that she had her own insecurities, steeped in her guilt over the attack and how it left him.

He hated the fact that they weren't sexual. She wanted to be - He could tell. But, he was too apprehensive about not being able to use his legs! What if he couldn't perform correctly and the let down put her off of him forever? What if even though he had feeling down there, he couldn't take care of business with it? There was just a lot for him to worry about, despite that she had expressed that he didn't have to worry, when she noticed his reluctance to become intimate with her. She said it was ableist to see someone as less sexually attractive because they didn't have leg function, but he didn't _see_ himself as less, he _felt_ as a lesser person than who he was.. He couldn't explain it to her, but she didn't push him. He just knew that every time she snuggled closely and rubbed against an erection and he slid a pillow between them - he was probably letting her down.

She had no shortage of interested guys. She could make the most generic posts on social media and her comments would be filled with ogling. Her SoulDates account always had people there wanting to make a connection, even though she put very little info on it. "Hero Support. I fw energy crystals, essential oils, incense, candles, herbs, fruit, and flowers. Here for networking. I'm into superhero technology and advancement. I know science and fashion. Hit me up for help with your suit or with your system. I got you."

She STILL had a mailbox full of interested hero support, several sidekicks, as well as a few pretty popular heroes! She got more thirst messages as a random hero support profile with her photo on it than he got as verified actual hero Kid Danger! _They don't even know what hero she works for!_ Not that it mattered, because her profile photo was of her, in a pale peach sundress with the sun shining down on her and her hair glistening, and heroes are often cocky. Most of them don't think that "networking only" disclaimer applied to them. Everyone who messaged her probably just saw a beautiful woman who hadn't met _him_ yet and believed that once she did, she'd change her tune. But then again, her profile didn't have her relationship status listed. Henry didn't know if that was because she didn't want people to know she was taken or that she just hadn't thought about it in a while, or didn't want to presume.

He was so vexed by it that he told her (seemingly out of nowhere) that if she felt the need to connect physically with someone else, he wouldn't blame her. That only upset her and made her deactivate the profile and cry when she thought he couldn't hear her. So, he felt like shit at that point. He came around later to tell her that if she wanted to use his body for her personal pleasure that he would allow it. _Allow it?_

"Henry, until you're ready to have a conversation with me about our mutual satisfaction and not one at me about physical sex, please just leave it alone." So, he did, and she tried not to think about it too much. Maybe furthering her abstinence was a blessing in disguise, to help keep her mind free and clear. Maybe… She just couldn't have a new chance with Henry and she should just try to begin to accept it. No! She sacrificed too much and believed too hard to accept that! Instead, she decided on simple seduction. Maybe she could get Henry to rethink intimacy with her if she showed him what she had to offer and her willingness to offer.

.

He hoisted himself into the bed and started arranging his legs for the moment. Charlotte had some candles lit and she was in the bathroom, with the door open listening to some soft music. Henry glanced up and saw her in the doorway, in the mirror, doing her hair, topless and he looked away for a moment, reflexively, but his eyes went back to her. If she wanted privacy, she'd have shut the door, anyway! Her skin was all soft and fresh and just looked delicious. She was humming along to the song playing - some song about being ready to play… _Did she have that on repeat?_ Henry adjusted the covers to try to cover up his… reaction… Just in case she caught him.

Because, when she began to dance around in the mirror, singing to her reflection and putting the moves on herself, he was honestly ready to reach into his shorts. _I really should stop watching this like some creep, but.. Honestly, if she didn't shut the door, she doesn't care. Char never overlooks anything…_ Charlotte playfully flirted with herself in the mirror, and even after her hair was done, continued to enjoy the product. Henry certainly did too. By the time she shut everything in the bathroom down and came into the room covering herself with a thin shirt that she hadn't yet slipped into, he was so bothered. "Hey, before you got up, I usually am topless in this space, and I was wondering if it would be too much of an issue if I got back to that?" He gave a super deep shrug of his shoulders, with his mouth stuck wide open, staring at her. "Well, if you don't mind, that's excellent," she said and tossed the unused shirt onto her dresser.

She climbed into bed at the foot and crawled into her spot, very much aware of how hard Henry was watching her and the fact that he had been for a while. "I was kinda concerned, because you never want me you know, touching you and stuff, so I didn't know if this was gonna be irritating for you…"

"I don't have a problem with you touching me," he quickly clarified, "I just can never tell if it's going to go to someplace where I can't… touch _you,_ the way that you might want." He dared a look at her face. She looked like she was thinking about what he said, pretty deeply.

"Well, do you trust me to try something, Hen?"

"Yeah?" She smiled, with understanding, not playfully, flirtatiously, or seductively. She understood now - that could be intimidating for him at this juncture of his journey in life. She moved to where he was and began to shift him to the center of the bed. "What are you?"

"Trust me, or nah?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, well…" She turned away from him, to where he could only see her amazing back, and she sat down and took his legs near herself. "Charteau Music System: Play Make Me Whole by Amel Larrieux." She began to rub one of his feet, massaging them at certain points and laid back against his body, as she did. See, Henry couldn't yet use his legs, but he did have feeling in his feet and certain parts of his legs that weren't as badly atrophied. He could feel this and she hoped that it was nice for him. She glanced back at him and he had tears in his eyes. "Henry, not every intimate touch that I want to share with you is sexual. Yes, we have had a lot of really excellent sex and I do believe that we still can, right now, with you exactly like this. But, whenever I tell you not to worry about it, what I really mean is that being without it won't make me love you less or want you less. It only lets me know that we aren't ready for it. I had every intention of seducing you tonight, to try to make you see how much I want you. But, I think what you need to understand is how much I care for you, and then you'll trust that I want you. I won't need any tricks or games."

He cradled her to himself. "I don't know how I won you over, but if I ever lost you, my God…" She moved to give him a kiss on the top of his foot,then just cuddled against him and whenever he had an erection, he didn't separate them with any pillows. In fact, he rubbed it against her, making her smile and turn to face him. "I trust that you want me," he said, and took a deep breath, unsure of where things went from there.

That same understanding smile gradually became a seductive one, "And, do you still trust me with your body?"

"Yes."

She readjusted his legs again and settled herself on top of him. "Because, you should know that I've done a lot of studying about what you can and can't do and what you can feel, and I don't mind doing the work to make this good for both of us."

"I appreciate everything that you do for me, and for us," he said with a smile as she discarded the floral underwear that she had been wearing.

.

Charlotte's leg braces weren't doing what she wanted them to, which meant not only more work, but some personal let down for Henry, as well. It broke her heart whenever things didn't work out for him. He had very little to focus on these days. She tried to get him interested in attending school again, but whenever they went on the tour and she was trying to show him and explain all of the accessible accomodations, he felt 'othered' and overwhelmed, then went off on her for trying to "force" him to go do things whenever he'd already told her that he didn't want to do it! He really tore into her, right there, on the campus and she honestly wasn't sure how to respond, so for the moment, she simply apologized and took him home. They were quiet for the whole trip and it started this ugly trend of her trying to help (as she was want to do now for the entire span of his return), him getting aggravated and accusing her of something, or just fussing in general, and her apologizing and taking it with a grain of salt.

Journalists and paparazzi had been trying to speak with him since they found out that he was awake, and in general, he didn't want to be bothered with anybody in his condition, but he was starting to feel so depressed about his lack of success, currently that he finally agreed to an interview in Swellview. His family picked him up and Charlotte synced her Whiz Watch with his arm, just in case he didn't know when he needed to do certain things. She just couldn't take the time to travel to Swellview at the moment, trying to get back into a suitable school schedule, if she wanted to be able to graduate earlier, as she had initially planned before his tragic incident. Plus, she felt like she had been getting on his nerves, as of late. He kept reminding her that he was now awake and could make decisions for himself. She figured some time apart might make it easier for her to stop accidentally smothering him and incidentally provoking his now easily triggered wrath.

" _Henry Hart, Hometown Hero!_ Fliers" were everywhere in Swellview, with the night that his Interview would be. The news was going to have a live audience. Tickets were sold. Henry was guarded by Captain Man and Lady Danger, and he was extremely jealous and bitter seeing Piper decked out in her fancy suit that Char helped redesign for her. She had a high ponytail, unlike whenever the gum first changed her and her long hair was simply gelled down in the front. (She was tying her own hair up after the change and it usually looked a mess, because she'd be rushing). Now, the high ponytail came with the costume for her gumball and was even streaked with red and blue and she had silver glittery extensions in her head. She used a mouth covering mask, rather than an eye covering one. It really seemed a more efficient way to hide one's identity, to Henry. He wondered why _all heroes_ weren't wearing masks over their nose and mouth instead of their eyes, and REALLY - not even their eyes, but _around_ their eyes! Most eye masks still showed eyes! Plus, her suit, while very much the same style of Henry's was a shiny vinyl, and her boots were completely different, with knife sheaths along the outsides of them with several knives stashed for her, went up higher and all of her fave and most used tools could be tucked into them and easily reached! That took the cake, but she also told him that she had a retractable rope or whip, built in to her wrist, instead of the zapper, and that Charlotte programmed homing devices for the daggers she used, so that they would come back to her, similar to a boomerang, but computerized to do so.

Whenever she was in her uniform, Charlotte was in her ear on the bud that Henry was staring at in Lady Danger's ear. Piper had not only managed to steal his job and do it better, but she had an even closer work relationship with Charlotte, because she literally took her with her for every assignment (including this one). That somehow made him feel more jealous. Stealing his job when he was hurt was one thing, taking and keeping his Charlotte and in such an integral way to her work gave him newfound rage. But, what else was new these days? He always felt angry. Charlotte had said that maybe he was in the anger stage of his grieving process, and he'd even gotten angry about that. "And what exactly am I grieving, Char? The loss of 3 years? The loss of my legs and general health? The loss of my job? My life as I knew it? My job? My confidence? What?"

She looked so attacked and defeated that it haunted him, even right now, days later. "I don't, Hen. Maybe all of it. It's a lot of loss to deal with. I'll leave you to it," she had said in one of the smallest voices he ever heard her use and tried to leave the room. He'd caught her hand, pulled her close and held her, but he didn't know if that helped anything, She still looked pretty sad by the time he let go and she left the room. Some part of him had thought that when they were physically intimate again, officially a couple, and building their life together that he'd be fine with the rest of it. He wasn't! He wasn't fine with any of it _except_ for their relationship, and he felt like he was botching that everyday. He had lost Kid Danger, and there was nothing he could do about that, but losing Charlotte hurt so much more. Sure, she still loved him and still was by his side, but he knew that it had to be weird and tough for her to remember having a life with him and now, he no longer held that.

This space could help them… or make her realize how hard he'd been to live with and finally do what was best for her and leave him. Aaaaaaand, _that's_ what was on his mind at the start of this majorly anticipated interview.

Captain Man announced Henry to the panel and Lady Danger escorted him out to it. Whenever he was there, he forced a smile and tried not to think about how Charlotte was all that he had and he had been projecting onto her and pushing her away. The interview began with niceties from Mary and Trent. They were announcing the story from the night that Kid Danger left Swellview. "What were you thinking, when you saw Kid Danger in kid danger?" Mary asked.

"Well, I was seeing myself in danger," he said.

"Powerful words," Trent said. "Kid Danger is a part of all of us, here in Swellview." Henry simply rolled his eyes. "Now, one of the stories told to us while trying to find out just who was the boy who almost died for Kid Danger was that _you_ were the Playground Pooper."

Henry laughed, "Yeah, no. That was a lie. At the time, it seemed more convenient than the truth," he shrugged his shoulders.

Mary squinted and asked, "So, what is the truth?"

Henry sighed, glanced at Ray's worried face, then turned to the camera and confessed, "That I was Kid Danger."

The audience began to stir and Trent and Mary were taken completely off guard. "Now that part of my life is over, there's really no reason for me to hide it anymore. Kid Danger "died" when I went into a coma with my body so broken that nobody thought that I would survive. You people never even saw his body. You just gave him a statue and accepted the first fill in that came along." Lady Danger glared at him, but didn't say anything. Captain Man came to try to retrieve Henry, but Henry locked the wheels on the chair and his eyes dared him to try to move him without him doing something equally as irrational as what he had just done. "Just, pull up that Kid Danger footage again and tell me that isn't my face with an eye mask." He chuckled.

Mary shook her head and asked, "So, you're Kid Danger _and_ the Playground Pooper?"

"No. No. No. No. No. No… Why is this always so hard? I was _never_ the Playground Pooper. That guy is likely in some other town still pooping playgrounds. But, I am also _not_ Kid Danger, because he's dead, now. But, I _was_ Kid Danger before this happened to me." He gestured towards the chair and shrugged. "Thought about writing my memoirs, but I don't know what the last 2 years of my life were.. I'm sorry, 3! Because for over a year, I laid in a bed hooked up to machines, ruining my best friend's life and I've spent the past couple of months ruining the friendship with my presence, so… Questions?"

The reporters were both silent. Lady Danger was snitching to Charlotte about what Henry was doing. Captain Man was avoiding the flurry of fans who now demanded confirmation. Lady Danger looked at Captain Man and said, "Charlotte says leave him here and let him do whatever it is that he's trying to do. She's headed our way and she'll handle the clean up." Captain Man sighed and nodded, then he and Lady Danger made a run for it. "Between the two of us, chair or no, if he tells _my_ identity, I'm taking him down."

"Girl Danger, I'm glad _you_ said it." She glared at the side of his face at him calling her "Girl Danger," but they had to make it out of this crowd.

.

Whenever Charlotte arrived at the event, Henry was outside, sitting in his wheelchair with multiple people surrounding him and snapping photos. He looked like a zombie. She cut through the crowd and told everyone that they needed to let her get him out of there, but nobody let up, so she just started zapping them. Eventually, the still standing crowd dispersed to avoid that fate and she rolled Henry down the sidewalk. "I can roll myself. The chair is electrical." She let go and let him do it. "They send you to scold me?"

"When was the last time I scolded you?" She asked. _Why did she have to do that?_

Henry snapped, "I don't know, Charlotte! I'm missing three years, remember?" She bit her lip and looked at the sky, trying to talk herself out of going off on him.

She took a deep breath, un-clenched her fists and her jaws, and said, "The car is this way." He turned to follow her and she was simply trying not to look too upset. He had a stressful night and maybe he made a rash decision, but he hadn't been coping well and well, she didn't want to be too hard on him for it. Everyone else was plenty pissed at him enough. They made it to the wheelchair accessible SUV and he got himself inside. She spotted him, much to his chagrin, and whenever she got into the driver's seat she put her head on the wheel, trying to collect herself before starting this long drive back and trying not to cry. Because, at this point, she couldn't tell if Henry was really just this disgruntled with his life, or if he was purposefully punishing her.

"Can you drive?" he asked.

"Just a moment," she said, softly. She felt his hand on her shoulder and she jumped up.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned. _See, this is the confusing part._ Henry would be blatantly disrespectful, then when she was visibly upset, he would check on her and she couldn't determine if that was a natural reaction for him, if he didn't intend to hurt her in the first place, if he was just trying to get a good look at his damage… And honestly, that made her feel worse, to even think that he could be thinking that way!

She avoided his question and asked, "You ready to go home?"

"You mean to your house," he said.

"I mean home. If you feel at home someplace else, I don't mind taking you there. Just let me know."

"Are _you_ ready for me to come back to your house? Taking up your space? Contributing nothing?"

"For #$%!'s sakes, Henry!" she said and started crying. That was not how she intended to play this out, but she didn't have the strength to keep having this battle with him. His eyes went wide. He obviously didn't expect it to go this way, either. She put her head back onto the steering wheel to let the rest of this cry out and Henry now felt like the lowest form of scum. _Why did he keep pushing her like that?_ He knew. He needed her to validate him. He needed to keep hearing her say that she wanted him with her and that she cared about him and that she wanted him in her life. But, he could have just asked for her to validate him. Constantly pushing her this way.. The self loathing and self deprecation way was doing him no favors… "Char?"

"Just, stop, please. I need a small break, Henry."

His knee was shaking nervously as he asked, "From me?"

She sat up to ask him to be quiet, but she noticed his knee and was distracted, "What's that? Have you _been_ doing that? Is that new?" She asked, pointing at it. He looked down. He hadn't even noticed that he was doing it. She took his arm and said, "By Charlotte's command: Progress report, left knee." A scanner from inside of his arm scanned his leg and the report appeared in hologram form for Charlotte. "Send to Pagemaster Laboratory Computer." She wiped her face and started driving. "Call the Man Cave."

Team Man answered, not looking too thrilled, but she ignored that, "Hey. I've gotta stop by to look up something."

"Henry is with you?" Ray asked.

"Yes, he is and yes, I'm bringing him."

"Charlotte, Henry isn't welcome here right now. What he did was reckless and dangerous for this team and for his family. And he broke an oath!"

"I'll stay in the van," Henry said.

"No. You have to get out, because I have to scan your body!" She said, then snapped at Ray, "Do me this one favor and then you'll never have to see him again, if you don't want to!"

"I don't want to do you this favor," he said. "Henry owes us an apology and just because you're letting him run all over you with his feelings doesn't mean the rest of us have to."

"Wow," Charlotte said, fighting the urge to cry again. "Well, Henry's leg is showing some activity and I'm coming in there if I have to drive through the front of the store. So, see you soon." She slapped the hologram down and took a deep breath.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to get in between you and the team."

"Don't worry about it," she said, but she did feel a way about how not only was Henry consistently putting her in these tough spots, but apparently their friends had noticed it, too.

.

She and Schwoz ran some tests and did some scans. Ray, Piper and Mimi took off before they got there. Ray nor Piper were ready to deal with him yet and Mimi tended to go where Ray went, with matters like these. Jasper was at the control panel, in case something happened while Charlotte and Schwoz were checking Henry out.

Schwoz casually reported, "It's his reflexes. He has hypermotility, so the power is still activated, even though he can't walk, when he was nervous, his power boosted the reflexes that his muscles haven't yet gotten back used to." She was disappointed, but determined to find something else out. Henry scooted himself towards the chair and as she studied the scans herself, situated himself again. He watched Charlotte obsess over the results for a moment, then joined Jasper at the control panel. "Hey, Jasp."

Jasper winced a little at the sound of his voice, he noticed. But, he put a smile on and nodded at him, "Henry," he said. "How did Char take the unmasking?"  
"She doesn't seem to care," he said and shrugged his shoulders. "What about you?"

Jasper chuckled, "Well, you didn't betray _me,_ so I don't really have room to feel any kind of way, really."

"But, you clearly do."

"I clearly do. Watch the panel for me? I wanna check on Char. She seems stressed." Jasper got up and walked off. Henry looked at the control panel. He didn't like being here anymore, and he hated that Charlotte brought him here, especially since it seemed like nothing was new, no matter how long she stared at those results. He played with the cameras a little bit and found Charlotte and Jasper. Jasper had been acting a little weird, so he was curious.

"Char… You okay?" Jasper asked.

She held her head, "I dragged him in here and I have nothing for him, AGAIN. He's upset enough, and I just made everyone upset, since nobody wants to be around each other right now. Every time I try to do something for him, it just doesn't pan out and I have to see his hurt face all over again and know that I did it this time, again."

"It'll all pass. But this path that you're on is... concerning. You've become obsessed, Char. You look exhausted. You seem depressed. I just… I want to make sure that you're okay."

"It's a lot of work unpacking your guilt when you're constantly reminded of what all went wrong. I'll be fine." She didn't want to say anything bad about Henry to Jasper, even though at the moment she had a lot built up that she wanted to tell her other bestie.

"Henry still seems like he's lashing out."

"I'll be fine," she repeated, and set down the pad with the scan results on it. "If I could just get a breakthrough, you know? That could change everything for us."

"Or… Maybe, he's a different person now and you just need to let go." Charlotte folded her arms, smiled toothlessly and furrowed her eyebrows. "All I'm saying is that you take a lot from him that you don't deserve. I don't know why you think that you do, but you don't. If he can't see that and make some changes to how he's been treating you, maybe that part of your life is over."

"That _part_ of my life? Which part, Jasper? The center of it? Because, this _is_ my life."

"It doesn't have to be. Henry's awake and he isn't alone. You don't have to take the… borderline emotional abuse that he inflicts upon you…"

"I appreciate your concern, but you have no idea what you're talking about…" Henry rolled up to them and she was startled for a moment. He was staring at Jasper. She said, "I'm so sorry, Henry. I didn't find anything useful. I'll get you out of here."

"What were you two talking about?" he asked, but he was still looking at Jasper.

"Just checking on Charlotte."

"So, now that I'm right here, you can't say how you feel?" Henry asked, with a laugh.

"Hen…" Charlotte started.  
"No. I want Jasper to say what he said to you, to me, to my face!" She now rubbed back her curls from her face and leaned against the wall. The level of exhaustion was immeasurable for her.

Jasper folded his arms and said, "Well, since you're here, not only will I repeat myself, but I'll expound. You have been being a real butthole to everyone for the past few weeks, since the leg braces didn't work out, but _especially_ to Charlotte. Everyone has noticed it! Her parents, your parents, the Cave, and God only knows how you talk to her when nobody is there."

"Jasper, that's enough," Charlotte warned.

Jasper continued, "If somebody would have told me that I would ever see the day that you became this person, I never would have believed it. You break my heart the way that you speak to her, so I can't even imagine what you're doing to her heart. Man, I know that you've had a rough time. We all hate that you're going through this. But, the one person that you should never take it out on is Charlotte. So, I told her that she needs to wash her hands of you. Maybe when you're better, when you've handled the trauma and the grief and the anger, maybe. But, really ask yourself if, right now, how you've been treating her is right!"

"Jasper, leave it!" Charlotte snapped.

Jasper ran his hands through his hair. "It isn't right to treat anybody that way. Especially not when they love you so much."

"Is this about me, or your mom, Jasper?" Henry asked.

Charlotte gasped and called his name, angrily and shocked, "Henry!"

Jasper clenched his fists and said, "It's about you AND my mom. Because, you've obviously become just like her. She lashes out at the people who care about her too, and she did that up until the day that she found herself all alone in that house. Maybe that's what you need, too. For everybody that you're pushing away to actually just go away. I know I am."

He stormed off and Charlotte touched his hand on his way out, wanting to check on him, but also not wanting to leave Henry. She scoffed, turned on the balls of her feet and said, "I can't believe that you would say something like that to him. It's one thing to resent me and be mad at me, but none of this is Jasper's fault and he was just trying to be a good friend. You _know_ how sensitive he is about the bad relationship with his mom. That was beyond low, Henry."

His eyes were welled with tears. "I know. I can't… I don't know why I keep hurting everyone. It's like I want somebody to be as miserable as me, and the only people that I have access to are ones that care about me. I'm sorry… You think that I resent you?" He shook his head, "Why would I resent you?"

"Why _wouldn't_ you? I know that this story has been told to you and you've had to think about it. _I_ thought that I knew best. _I_ thought that I knew everything. _I_ had to handle Max _my_ way, and ultimately, what wound up happening was what you suggested in the first place. He was taken into custody and his compound was forced open to release his prisoners. If I had just listened to you, instead of having to always be right and always be the smartest… You wouldn't be like this! If I had dealt with Max when it needed to happen, you wouldn't be like this. I _know_ this has to run through your head sometimes. It runs through mine, everyday. And, when you talk, when you look at me, when you deal with me, I can feel it. You hate me. You don't want to, but you can't help it. I killed Kid Danger. I took the Man Cave, your legs, an arm, and three years of your life away from you. And unfortunately, no matter what I do, how much time and effort and energy I put in to trying to fix this, you're never gonna be able to forgive me. So, maybe it's you, Henry… Who should wash his hands of me. Being with me doesn't make you happy and I damn sure haven't made you any better." Surprisingly, she wasn't crying. She was dying inside, but she needed to finally address this, to take accountability and atone, if possible. Henry looked devastated, but maybe, he finally had the chance to be free. "I just don't have a better best. I've done my best to fix my mess. It's still… all messed up and it's my fault." She threw her hands up.

"Char…" he held out his arms and waved his hands around, not knowing where to start or what to do or say to any of that. "That's… That _never_ crossed my mind. Knowing that I've made you feel this way literally makes me want to vomit. There's been _a lot_ of self pity and general bitterness and I've definitely dealt with all of it in the most unhealthy ways, but I swear to you, I haven't blamed you. I don't think for a moment that this was your fault and how could I ever _hate_ you? Char," he rolled closer to her and pulled her to him, "I love you more than anything in the world. You saved me. Yeah, I'm not in my best shape and I am extremely volatile about that, but I'd be dead if you hadn't been there. I'd die if I lost you. Even if I didn't, I can't see what point I would have to live. Baby, you are the only good thing in my life right now. I could never hate you or resent you, and I surely couldn't blame you for this… And I don't want you blaming yourself. I'll do whatever it takes to fix this. Therapy, counseling, talk to your mom, to your crystal lady, whatever. Just.. please, don't think these things. I don't want you thinking about me hating you everyday. That's pretty unbearable. I want to marry you. I want to have kids with you. I want us to always be together, and I don't need the last three years to know that. Please…" He didn't even know what he was begging her to do or not to do… _Please, don't leave me…_

"Henry, you're grateful. You've developed these feelings so fast because I've been here since you got up and you know what happened and you're grateful because I was there."

"I _am_ grateful, but I'm also in love with you and that's a separate emotion. Our circumstances don't discredit my feelings!" She didn't understand why he sounded so desperate all of a sudden, but she needed a little bit of space and wanted to just take a breather, so she pulled away and turned away. Henry felt like his world was crumbling. He hadn't meant to be so abrasive. Just… everything that happened to him was a lot to deal with and a lot for him to handle and he had mishandled everything, mishandled her, but if he lost her now, he honestly couldn't say what type of crazy that would make him...

Henry hoisted himself up from the chair, took two very tiring and difficult steps towards her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Charlotte gasped. "Henry! Did you just?" She turned around in his arms and he lost his balance, but she held him up. "I've got you," she said. He was breathing hard and holding on for dear life. "I've got you. Always," she told him and pressed her forehead against his chin.


	25. Birthday Blessings

_Wasn't really listening to any music, because I did most of this chapter on a break at work. I put up a Charlotte aesthetic on mysamcedesmadness and I couldn't include that dirty photo. They flagged that ASAP. Lol. Tee hee. But, Henryway - This might be the last chapter for a bit. (Not like a long bit, but possibly a week or two, at the most, I hope). Trying to do some irl things such as move out of my ex's apartment, make arrangements about the kids I've lived with and helped raise for 3 years and work on a few other stories outside of this fandom. Meet y'all back here when and if y'all make it back to me. Thanks everyone._

 **Birthday Blessings**

"Piper Hart, what about the claims that your brother is Kid Danger?"

"Kid Danger is dead, Lady."

"So, how do you explain the examples of hypermotility that he displayed during his interview?"

"He did a few magic tricks, so what? A robot arm was donated to him. All of that was probably computerized speed."

"He used both arms to prove it!"

"If you have all the answers, why are you asking ME questions? Get out of my way before I break your camera, or worst yet, your face."

"Miss Hart, did you know that your brother was Kid Danger?"

"My brother is a sad man who was hurt very badly. His entire body was broken. I wouldn't be surprised if he just has brain damage and THINKS he's Kid Danger because they got battered on the same night!" She shoved the reporter and went inside. "I could KILL Henry!" She fussed.

Siren and Jake were seated on the couch, rewatching the interview, trying to see if the hypermotility really _was_ a trick.

"It looks like he did exactly what he said he would!" Jake said.

"Both hands!" Siren concluded.

Piper bit her lip and folded her arms. "Well, if what we're going with is "yes, Henry was Kid Danger," then I'm gonna write a book and make a lot of money! I deserve something if he allowed me to have a crush on my own brother for 7 years!" She stomped up the stairs and Siren was deep in thought.

"All those times that he took off when his watch beeped. All of the excuses. All of the rushing into work… Piper does that too… And, she's working at the same place, with the same kind of beeping watch. Lady Danger emerged the night that Kid Danger died… Piper disappeared from the hospital for hours!"

Jake and Siren rushed up the stairs to Piper's room and knocked on her door.

She closed the Charlotte hologram and opened it, "What?"

"Piper, we don't need any more drastic surprises. Are you Lady Danger?" Siren asked.

"You're joking. You think that if I was a superhero, I'd keep QUIET about it? Does that SOUND like me? I'd have a blog that shows me change into uniform and record every battle on a camera in my mouth mask! Henry has made both of you crazy, to ask me this!" She shut the door and exhaled, and listened to hear them bicker for a little bit.

"She _would_ blab it to someone."

"She'd _have_ to rub this in people's faces, especially after campaigning so hard for the job."

"She'd at the very least shove Jena Tertrazzini's face in it."

"Henry _has_ made us both crazy."

They began to walk away and she left from the door. "Stupid Henry." She opened her line to him, now and he was surprised to see her show up in his hologram. "Our parents just asked me if I'm Lady Danger. They don't want any drastic surprises!"

"I'm sorry, Piper. I haven't been myself."

"You know, you've always been a weird, gross, loser. But _at least_ before, I knew that you were on my side. I can't believe that I tried to actually avenge you." She shook her head and cut him off.

Henry exhaled. "Everyone is mad at me."

"They're justified," Charlotte reminded him. "They'll get over it, especially once you're back to your old self."

"Will you?" He wondered.

She sighed, "It gets harder and harder everyday, but… I'm probably the only person who fully understands what you're going through. Not from experience, of course. But, from all of my reading and studying while you were sleeping. All of my understanding of the injuries, your trauma, the effects, the tests, the results, and everything else… I can't say that any of us wouldn't be as combative if we had to go through it. I just wish that you knew that I'm doing my best for you."

"I know! I'm sorry that I don't show you that." He sighed and intertwined their fingers, "I'm gonna work so hard on it, Char. I promise."

She looked in the rearview mirror and wondered, "Is this vehicle tailing us?"

"I sure hope not. And if it is, it's probably just, I don't know… A Kid Danger crazy?"

"You _hope."_ She turned on a road that she didn't have to turn down (and didn't signal to turn) and hit a U Turn. She waited a moment, on the side of the road with the lights off and sure enough, the vehicle circled back and turned down the road. Their lights were in her eyes, so she couldn't see anything, but she pressed record on her dash cam to possibly catch the plates. The vehicle kept going down the road, probably because they were shocked that she was just there, waiting in the dark. She waited until she saw them turn again and she sped off, and tried to lose them, before they circled back. "Schwoz? Are we still friends?" She asked.

"Of course, Girlfriend!"

"Can you collect the footage from my dash cam and see if you can get the plates of the vehicle in the video and any info on it?"

"Let me see…" He typed some things and said, "It is registered to a Hank Thunderman, but the scanner shows the driver as a Nora Thunderman."

"Nora?" Charlotte pulled over, "Nora Thunderman isn't old enough to drive, I don't think. Maybe, just. But… why would she be following me? She has my phone number."

"Maybe she's following me. I got her brother locked up," Henry said.

"He got _himself_ locked up. That's her!" Charlotte got out of the SUV, with Henry calling her and reaching for her, trying to stop her from getting out. She waved her hands, the car pulled over, and she saw Nora driving and Billy in the passenger's seat, "What's… going on, you two?"

Nora pulled over, in front of the SUV and she and Billy got out. She spoke first, "Our parents won't let us contact you, but we know that you know where Max is being kept. We just wanna see him, to make sure that he's okay."

Charlotte sighed, "He's okay. I promise. I wouldn't let anybody do anything to him."

"Except blast his memory away and lock him up?" Nora asked.

Billy said, "He went bad again. We all saw it happening and none of us did anything to stop it. We just thought he was still grieving. They were twins."

"He needed help, not to be locked up!" Nora fussed.

"He's getting help," Charlotte told them. "I visit him pretty regularly. He's gonna be fine. They're taking good care of him and he doesn't remember the pain that he was going through when he lost Phoebe."

"Their birthday was the same week of their capture," Nora said. "Can you imagine that? Someone that you've been with your whole life, being taken away so near the time that the two of you should have been making another year together?"

Billy stepped forward and pulled Nora away, "Cool off." He looked ashamed. "She's not handling any of it well. We lost Phoebe, then we lost Max, and now, Dad is sick."

"Sick?" Charlotte repeated. _Oh no. If Max loses his dad while he's in recovery, then recovers his memory..._

"He's probably fine, but Nora wants Max to know. She thinks we can reach him. We saw that Henry was going to be here for an interview, so we bought tickets, just to try to talk to you. You weren't there, then we waited and saw you. I wanted to speak to you then, but you started blasting people and we decided to watch for a bit, to see if that was circumstantial or you were gone dark or something. I guess you made us."

"I still don't understand what you want me to do, though."

"Our family is under a lot of scrutiny for this. A hero who turned on another hero without provocation is a huge scandal in our community. But, you, as one of his victims and as someone of good standing with our government… We thought perhaps you could speak to someone about allowing us to visit. I turn 18 in June, but I still might be met with resistance. If _you_ put in a good word, we might get a chance to see him, reach out to him… Maybe help him, too. I know that you don't owe him or us anything. I just want to see my brother."

"Why didn't you just _call_ me?" Charlotte asked.

"We've had to change all of our information and we weren't allowed to keep any of yours. If either of us contact you on our devices, an alert will be sent to our parents. They think that we're on an end of the school year road trip, right now. They're already gonna flip out when they find out that we were in Swellview."

Charlotte sighed. "Okay. I'll see what I can do, Billy." She folded her arms and looked over at Nora, who was now in the passenger's seat. "Does she blame me?"

"She just wants to see Max. Our parents have disowned him. It's been a hard few years. Phoebe's death broke the foundation and Max's betrayal crumbled it."

"I'll do whatever I can to get you guys a visit." She gave him a hug and he got into the driver's seat and they drove off. Charlotte got back into her vehicle and turned on a certain radio station to tap into the bug that she had put on Billy when she hugged him.

"What did she say?" Nora asked.

"She said that she was gonna do whatever she can. I told you, she's a good person. I could tell that she feels bad for how things went down. She wants to help us."

"If she's such a good person, how did she ruin Max?" Nora asked.

"Max got sick after Phoebe died. That was nobody's fault, Nora. Whenever we next speak with her, you owe her an apology."

"I'm not apologizing to her until my oldest brother looks me in the eye and tells me to."

"His memory is gone. He might not ever get it back."

"There you have it," Nora said. They spoke about their parents and this trip and getting their stories straight, and other trifles before Charlotte was satisfied that they'd been telling the truth. She pressed a few buttons and the station read _Self Destruct._

Henry asked, "What does that mean?"

"The bug that I placed on him will basically turn into dust."

"Okay, so you're not about to blow up a couple of kids."

"No!" She said, then under her breath uttered, "Not tonight." He laughed and reached for her hand to intertwine their fingers again.

"Hey…" She looked at him, "I know that you're brave and everything, but I was so scared when you got out. What if they had hurt you? They're supers, Char. And, they have a kind of bad past with you on the account of their brother. Try to… Try to be careful."

"I was positive that I wasn't going to be hurt." She smiled and squeezed his hand.

.

All of the wonder of admitting that he was Kid Danger was snuffed out by Lady Danger reiterating for Swellview, "Kid Danger was temporary, and not to mention, our past. But, some day, Captain Man may need to retire. Someday, he might want to take a break, and the future of Swellview will fall upon the greatest hero that Swellview has ever had, as voted for by you! So, it doesn't _matter_ if Henry Hart was Kid Danger. We loved Kid Danger. We respected him. We gave him all of his accolades when he was here! When he was gone, we grieved him, and we gave him tribute." She booped the Kid Danger statue's nose, "But, now, we have to think about what Swellview is right now, and what it can become. Rest in Glory, Kid Danger. Peace and Blessings, Henry Hart. In the name of the future of Swellview, I, Lady Danger, am the only Danger that you need to be concerned about keeping you safe and keeping our city clean. " And Piper _still_ wasn't speaking to him.

.

Max was sedated before visits. That was just in case he became himself and reacted. Charlotte wasn't 100% on board with that, but she didn't make the rules. "Hey, Max," she said, and took her seat in front of him.

He smiled gently. "Hello, Charlotte. You'll be happy to know that while I still don't remember anything before that night, I did learn some things from my computer. They wanted to see if me playing around on it would bring anything back. Apparently, I'm a pretty good hacker! I hacked my own stuff. There was A LOT of stuff with you and me on there. I felt dirty owning that, so I erased it all."

"You were supposed to erase it long time ago."

"I figured from how well I hid it that it didn't belong there. We were really something."

"It was short lived."

"Did it end because of the…" He pointed at his head and made a circle with his finger.

"Don't do that. And no, you blew it with me long before your breakdown. But, I'm actually here on behalf of your family."

"The Thundermans released all connection and association with me," he said. "There are official banishment forms that I was served."

"Well, two of your three younger siblings want to see you."

"But, I don't know them. Won't it be difficult for them, to look at me and only meet a stranger with their brother's face?"

"Maybe. But, maybe it'll give them closure. I told them that I would see what I can do to make it possible. The warden here has agreed, but you need to consent."

"If you think it's best, Charlotte, I trust you."

"Why would you trust me? You don't even know me."

He sighed, "I know that you are the only person from my life before that night who comes to visit me regularly, and the people who have come through in a limited capacity think that I'm faking or that losing all of my memories was too kind for me. You're the only person that I think cared about me, out there. I think you're the only person who believed in me, probably."

"No. I wasn't. But, one died and the other two just want to see their brother."

"Whatever I can do to help," he said, and smiled sadly. "How is… Henry?"

"He's… alive." She stood up.

"I hope to meet him someday." She glared at him. She was so angry at that casual statement, but he didn't even seem to notice. His eyes were glazed over. "I'd like to apologize to his face. The only time I can remember seeing him, he was in such bad shape. And to think that I did that… I have to have been the world's biggest monster."

"You were definitely a monster that night, but you weren't always, and… You did regret it. Right before you were wiped clean. You tried to fix it. That doesn't mean anything to these courts, but it meant something to me. I don't think that you'll ever meet Henry, though. I don't know if he would ever be calm enough to face the person that did that to him."

.

He'd been awake for almost 3 months when Jasper's birthday was coming around. He set schedules to his robo-arm to focus on his therapy - physical, mental and spiritual. Whenever Charlotte went to Swellview, he would always stay behind, but for Jasper's birthday she had to insist that he pulled himself out of it and come along. Honestly, he didn't want to be in Swellview. He'd apologized to Jasper and they 'made up,' but he still felt like they weren't fixed. They didn't talk much and when they did, it seemed forced. Jasper hadn't told him a thing about how his life was going. He was completely silent on Man Cave business. All they really talked about was "How are you feeling?" and it was usually pretty vague feedback. It was nothing like he and Charlotte.

He and Charlotte were doing pretty well. He was figuring out healthy ways to work through his frustrations - a patio flower bed, painting, sculpting, learning new recipes and cooking, meditating, physical training, martial arts, and his personal favorite - sex. He could spend all day growing flowers, painting portraits, exercising his body, preparing dinner, and then spend the evenings curled up with Charlotte and deep inside of her for hours.

There was something magical about connecting with her this way. It was far more than some physical touch. For one thing, he either had muscle memory or highly sensitive intuition, because she bragged that he touched her exactly the way that he used to. His kisses, his strokes - it was like he already knew exactly what both of them wanted. Then, there was his memory retention. He seemed to remember things about them every time they made love to each other. A great deal of his memory had returned following his orgasms.

Charlotte had an idea for him to go back to his parents' house and live in his room, with them communicating long distance for a while, to see if familiar lifestyle would help to boost more memories, but Henry opposed strongly to both living with his family again, and to living _without_ her.

She warned him that if she needed to sign up for an excavation or something, he'd be apart from her anyway, but he wasn't interested in her hypothetical suggestions. "Wait! Have you signed up for an excavation or something?"

"Not currently, but I certainly will hardly be here by Fall semester."

"Then, I'll live with them for Fall semester," he said, as though it were obvious. She nodded her head. He'd better not give her this same lip by Fall.

.

Charlotte and Jasper kept jumping on the videochat as he planned his party and Jasper's apartment was surprisingly clean. Charlotte wondered if this wasn't Piper's doing, seeing as how she was there most of the time, because according to her, "Even crashing at Jasper's is more peaceful than listening to Mom and Dad obsess over Henry being Kid Danger." They were the ones writing books and booking interviews. Henry pretty much had wanted it off his chest and behind him, he was coming to realize. Piper was sick of all of it, whether she was in or out of costume.

Jasper rarely spent his time at home, anyway. He and Melvin had been hanging out ever since Jasper and Char videochat binge watched Dollhouse online together, and she casually commented that Enver Gjokaj kinda looked like "an older Melvin, like, if Melvin was hot." Then, suddenly, to Jasper, he was!

So, Jasper began pursuing and then sort of dating him.

Piper had accidentally walked in on a make out session with Melvin on the couch after a Lady Danger fight, and as Jasper stammered over words to try to explain away what she'd seen, she simply held up a hand, said, "Dude, I've thought you were gay since I was 4. I'm taking your bedroom unless the two of you get in there now. I'm tired as butts."

"I'm actually bi…"

"Don't care. Bedroom or couch?"

"We're going to the bedroom," Jasper said and reached out his hand for Melvin. Melvin still looked embarrassed as Piper kicked off her shoes and flopped down on to the couch. "Goodnight Piper."

"Yeah, yeah. Use protection, and wash your covers yourself. I don't want to find your sweaty sheets anywhere in the laundry room." She said and laid down, changing the channel on the TV with a little smile that she hid. She couldn't have Jasper thinking she cared too much about his life, but she was proud of him for not hiding too much. Melvin on the other hand wasn't sure. Piper began advising Jasper, and Charlotte just kept juicy secrets, from afar. This was Jasper's 21st, so he told her that he was finally ready to come out to everyone. (Technically, now this meant Henry too, because he hadn't regained that particular detail.)

About a year before, Oliver and Sidney had announced their engagement and Melvin had been really obnoxious about it, despite supposedly being their friend. He could now admit to himself, and to Jasper, it was because they were so comfortable finally being themselves and he still wasn't. Swellview was a pretty tolerant place to live, but he wanted to travel the world. Could he do that with Jasper? Could they enjoy Venetian sunsets cuddled up? Could they surf in Hawaii and make love all night and send their loved ones postcards of them on holidays?

"Melvin, the only thing that would stop me from doing any of that with you is my budget," Jasper declared.

They had been seeing a lot of each other and Jasper had never been shy about admitting that he wasn't looking for some temporary situationship. But, his birthday would be whenever he intended to let everyone who didn't already know, know. His parents, other friends and associates, even the rest of the Man Cave. It was no big deal, because he was who he was and he'd never been embarrassed to be exactly that, but it was a big deal, because who he was, was someone that everybody didn't necessarily know him to be.

.

Henry wasn't really in a partying mood, but he had the feeling if they left it up to that, he'd never be. He had at least learned a few chair tricks and could move enough to do some seated body rolls when it was time to dance.

Char forced him into a decent outfit. He wanted to stay in sweats and a cotton tee, agreeing to "at least wear a nice t-shirt." She yanked off the one that he had on and handed him a floral shirt with a collar, "Put this on." And that was that. She got him out of the sweats and into the slacks with very little help from him, called him a "big baby," and tried some new shoes on him.

"These shoes are nice," he said.

"They were from Jasper, for your last birthday. I think it'd be nice to show him that you have them on. This is a big night for him."

"Because he turns 21? I did that in my sleep," Henry joked. She frowned. "Okay. I'll try my hardest not to make coma or crippled jokes." She cringed. "And not to say the word "crippled," he added. "Can I get a make out sesh before we hit the road? That silk dress is doing it for me."

"We could've, but you made me struggle to help you get dressed. So, think about that next time you're being a big baby." He groaned. "Henry, I know that you don't want to go, but your psychiatrist says that it's better for you to give things that you'd rather not do a try than to stay in your mood and regret missing things later. Jasper needs us tonight. He'd understand if you couldn't make it, but… I believe that you can. So, let's go." They headed out of the front door as she said, "Besides, if you miss this night for your best friend, you won't forgive yourself. I watch you sort through the havoc you created in mourning and you look so sad and lonely."

.

Charlotte packed most of Henry's things to bring to his parents. There were only a few short weeks between Jasper's birthday and the Fall semester, so she was going to get ready to move Hen, now. His dad offered to unload it into his old room while "the kids" headed to 'Jasper and Piper's,' where Siren already was, to help set things up.

Piper rolled her eyes and grabbed her keys. "I won't be home all weekend," she told him.

Jake asked, "Do you mean here, at your parents house?"

"Everybody gets it, Dad. I spend all of my time at Jasper's apartment!" She snapped and marched towards the car. "Charlotte, tell Henry, he's coming in my car," she said.

"Oh…" he, said as he heard her say this. Charlotte just nodded as he lowered the chair and rolled to Piper's vehicle, where Char basically hoisted him into the passenger seat and tossed his chair in the back storage area.

"Should… one person be _able_ to lift that chair?" Piper asked, throwing on her sunglasses. Charlotte laughed it off and got into the backseat. "Seriously, Girl. Are you taking some kind of new vitamins?" She gasped, "Are you on those superpowers steroids that have taken the Internet by storm?"

"What? No! Those are extremely dangerous and not approved by anyone legitimate. They have caused fatal nosebleeds and can cause seizures."

Henry asked, "What superpowers steroids?" And Piper immediately clammed up and glared straight ahead. He threw his head back, "I'm your brother, Piper. You can't give me the silent treatment forever."

She was going to let him know that it isn't "The Silent Treatment" if the relationship is over and you're never speaking to the person again, but that would have made her have conversation with him.

"She's talking about an unorthodox way of trying to obtain or boost superpowers that none other than GWEN created and has been selling underground."

"Gwen?" Henry repeated. "The Muffin Chick?"

"She was one of Max's puppets. _Metroburg_ felt that while they removed every prisoner's memory to erase Max's tortures, it was unethical to keep previously earned degrees and previously learned skills away from them. So, we used one of Schwoz's inventions - you may remember it as the reason you got a 100 on a Puerto Rican History test."

"That thing scrambled my speech and had me shrieking for a week!"

"Yes, but you retained everything that you knew about Puerto Rican History."

"I can't tell you the first girl I screwed, but every celebrity and public figure from PR - no prob."

"Sooo, Gwen got back her chemistry prowess and even though she goes by a different name now and doesn't remember her former life, she managed to get back on the wrong side of crime." Charlotte huffed, "I told President Kickbutt we should wait a probationary period before giving them back skills! Now, people are popping superpower steroids despite all of the fatalities, nobody has been able to catch her, and every time scientists think that they've figured out all of the effects of the drug, a new version pops up with a more advanced formula."

"Sucks for the hero world," Henry said. Piper fumed silently.

Charlotte added, "I think eventually, she'll get the formula right and it'll do what she's trying to make it do. BUT, that poses a completely new set of problems. People all over the world could have access to superpowers."

Piper said, "Yeah, but people like me could _also_ have access to them. Running around fighting crime without one is hard work."

"Schwoz can give you one. He gave me one," Henry said. She just took a deep breath and actively ignored him again. Charlotte strummed her fingers on the back of his neck and he smiled and rested his head. Everybody might still be mad, but he and Charlotte were good.

.

Charlotte found Jasper in the parking lot whenever they pulled up, forgetting that Piper's car wasn't made for his chair, so he had to be assisted out. She headed for the apartment with him as Jasper waved to Henry in the car. "Umm.. Pipe.." Henry started, but she shut and locked the doors and headed inside. Henry was the one fuming now. Piper could be a real jackass, but surely she wasn't going to just leave him here? And why did Char run off? After a few minutes he contacted her through his arm.

"Hen? Where are you?" Her hologram was hovered, probably hiding behind a door or something.

"I was left in the car," he said.

"Oh my God! I forgot it wasn't our vehicle. On my way." She rushed out, petite little silk clad body pulling the wheelchair from the back, and met him at his door.

Now, he was acting like he didn't want her help, but she wrestled and flopped him into that chair whether he wanted her to or not. "Okay. You definitely ARE way too strong. You've got zero muscle mass. How are you this strong?" He complained.

Charlotte bent over, face to face with him, but he was distracted by sparkling cleavage. "Let's make a deal. If you're not a complete butt tonight, we do butt stuff when we get home."

"My butt or yours?" He asked, with his arms folded.

"Your choice."

"Yours."

"Awww. But, you've gotta be nice tonight, or no deal," she pointed at his face.

"And by butt stuff…"

"Your choice, Babe." Because, the possibilities, whenever he got that thing within his grasp and they were alone!

"Okay, so if I go call Piper what I want to call her, no cheeks clapping against my cheeks when we get home?"

"No cheeks doing anything but sitting in bed in my undies while I browse my phone."

"Ugh. But it was messed up, what she did."

"It was. And she's definitely gonna hear from me about it." She stood up and they headed in, Henry a little behind her. Charlotte had such a small frame and seemingly formless figure sometimes, but in the right outfit… or out of it, he smiled. _That butt is mine. I can do this. For butt stuff? Definitely._

Jasper seemed happy to see Henry. When he hugged him, Henry knew it was probably because this was his first night of drinking, because he could smell it on him. "Henry! My best friend in the world!" He gave him kiss on the cheek and said, "I thought after what happened you wouldn't show. Even though we made up. We weren't to each other who we shoulda been. You were there, in that dark place and I should have tried to reach you man, and try to pull you out."

"I was wrong. You were right. And of course I wouldn't miss this." Henry spun in a smooth circle in the chair and faced Jasper again after he had taken in every detail in the room within moments, "There's a lot of people here, Man. I didn't realize you knew so many people."

"Ugh. A lot of them are here either to see you, or because they're Piper's friends trying to illegally score alcohol. Joke's on them. Your mom and mine are manning all of it!"

"My mom is gonna drink all of it," Henry joked.

"Not if my mom drinks it all first!" Jasper laughed. "Whew, couple of drunks. Your mom made me my first drink. I think she was making it for herself, because I'm not even half through and I'm already done with drinking, like for the rest of my life. Trying a drink was a very bad choice for me."

"Never let my mom make a drink," Henry said, shaking his head and laughing at his tipsy but giddy friend. "Anything stronger than a Mojito and she might literally kill you with alcohol poisoning."

Melvin came up to them and said something in Jasper's ear. "I should make my announcement, before this drink makes it impossible!" Jasper yelled back.

Melvin looked uncomfortable, but gently offered, "I can hold it for you."

"You'll hold it, alright," Jasper said, grinning. Melvin blushed and took the drink. "Okay. Maybe we'll donate this to Henry." He passed it over to Henry and Henry said, "I don't drink…" But Piper appeared out of nowhere snatched it and shot the rest. "Piper! You're underaged! He reminded her.

"Why don't you go tell the news about it?" She threw the paper cup at him and it bounced off of his head. He followed her through the crowd, fortunately people moved when they saw former super sidekick Kid Danger rolling through.

"Piper!"

She turned around with fire in her eyes. "What?"

"You're being unreasonable."

" _I_ am? Because… you managed to keep a secret from me for years that we were in the same house, but the moment it becomes my thing, you've got so much to say? If you were going to break Captain Man's oath, it shoulda been ta me! I'm your sister. I came to your stupid bedside everyday hoping you'd just get up and make our family whole again, because this family is messed up, but it's what we've got." She scoffed, but continued, "You got up and not only did you cause a deeper gash in our family, but you completely disregarded and disrespected ALL OF THE WORK, that _I_ did in _your_ name." She was fighting to keep herself from crying and poking him in the chest with her finger. "I would have called myself Slash Maiden, but I wanted to pay respects to Kid Danger. I wanted to give you tribute. The first moment you got to openly speak of me, you didn't even acknowledge my success! You called me, "the first replacement they could find!" Now, she was crying. "It's one thing to have broken the hero's oath. But you devalued your fellow hero, and you humiliated your baby sister. So, what? What do you think you can say to me right now that will make me care about a cup hitting you in your stupid, fat head?" She wiped her tears and folded her arms.

"I didn't think about any of that. I wanted to get it off of my chest. I wanted to possibly get some attention that wasn't people feeling bad that I was in a chair. I wanted closure on something that I can never get back. I didn't even consider you and that was so selfish of me. I spent that time being very bitter and very selfish. But, I…" he reached into a space in his chair and pulled out his Pearpad. He had Lady Danger wallpaper and when he unlocked it, clicked on a folder, "I keep up with everything that you do." He handed it to her. "I'm so proud. Henry's proud and Kid Danger."

She bit her lip and shoved it back to him. "I won't apologize."

"That's not really your thing."

"You were horrible to everybody. You made Jasper cry. You made Charlotte cry. You made Ray make weird whale noises."

He nodded, "Yeah, that's how he cries."

"Yeah. You can't make people cry because you're hurting. It's honestly a dick move."

"I know.. can I have a hug?"

"Blech. Don't be gross," she said and walked away from him, smiling to herself about his Lady Danger fanboy collection.

.

Henry lost most of his friends. There were several conversations with him about if he was Kid Danger, what happened during this fight, or whatever happened to that criminal. He kept losing who he came to spend time with and at one point, Jasper, Charlotte and Piper all wound up outside, but by the time he made it from the window to the front door in that crowd, all he saw outside were Melvin and L'Orange, both looking ridiculous AF with the stupidest outfits of the night, and Piper video recording Jena Tetrazzini vomiting in a bush and asking her if she was okay and if she'd had too much to drink.

He went back inside and hung out with the moms for a while, when he saw Charlotte peek out of Jasper's bedroom, looking around. Charlotte beckoned to Henry with her finger and he rolled over to her. "Quickie in Jasper's room? Because, I've been super nice and thinking about butt stuff all night." She pursed her lips and he said, "Or, you know.. whatever you were gonna suggest."

"Come in here," she said and opened the door wider. Jasper was on the bed, crying on Piper's lap and Henry was super confused. He knew that they were "friends," but that was a level of closeness that he didn't think Piper had. She'd never did anything like that with _him,_ and he was her brother! Charlotte said, "Hey, Jasper. Look who I found! I found Hen. He's here for you."

Jasper wailed, "No, Henry can't see this. I didn't even get a chance to tell him again!"

"Tell me now. What's up, Buddy?"

"No. You've been way too mean and I can't take more meanies!"

"Get rid of Piper, then," Henry said, laughing, with his tongue out. Piper was actually surprisingly gentle with Jasper right now and Henry didn't get _that one_ at all! Jasper buried his face deeper into Piper, who was trying to look bored with this, but was definitely stroking his hair protectively. "Jasp. I'm your best friend. You can tell me anything."

Jasper sat up and sobbed. "Melvin and I had a fight.."

Henry reflexively laughed. "Melvin? Nobody likes him. I'm surprised you even invited that doughhead." Piper punched Henry in the arm and Jasper fell back onto her shoulder now. "OW! Sorry! Okay, so we're friends with Melvin? … and you two fought - on your birthday. That sucks, but from knowing how my mom is after a rager, I think you're drunk crying dude. A fight with Melvin is nothing to nobody in sober, real life."

Charlotte suggested, through her teeth, "Henry, instead of offering Jasper assistance, or encouragement, how about just a pair of ears, for right now?"

Jasper continued, "I had to say it tonight! I'm a proper man now! I want to get myself in front of everyone that I know. I haven't been hiding, but I haven't been open. Especially not to my parents. And Melvin! He's not open in front of anyone and so he strongly suggested that I reconsider. I. Said. No. I'm sure about this and he says, "well, I'm not"… and walks away! I followed him outside and we argued for a while until _L'Orange_ comes to "talk some sense into him," and they leave together without either of them telling me goodnight. And now neither of them will answer their phones!"

Piper checked hers, "Well, Melvin just updated his status to say 'We all are on separate paths. Sometimes they cross. Sometimes they part. Farewell, good friend.'

"Good friend?" Jasper repeated, crestfallen.

Piper looked genuinely angry. Charlotte shut her eyes, looking sad for Jasper. Henry's eyes widened and he gasped, "You were banging Melvin?"

"Wow, Henry," Piper said. Charlotte just covered her forehead with a hand.

"Yooooo… I didn't know you were gay, but MELVIN? I'd have rathered you brought home L'Orange in those four leaf clover leggings he had on tonight. And Melvin looked like he robbed somebody on the set of Revenge of the Nerds. Neckerchief wearing poindexter. How did he bag a catch like you? He's the worst!" Jasper sniffled, then laughed. "That snotty voice?" Henry imitated Melvin, "Ms. Shapen, the core curriculum suggests... Suggest deez nuts, Melvin!" Now, everybody but Piper laughed. She was texting. Jasper laughed longer than he expected and Henry pulled off his shoes. "Here." He began to rub Jasper's feet and chant something.

Charlotte felt a stirring in her belly like butterflies, in her heart like a soft breeze, and down below like a slow fire... That was the Buddhist happiness and freedom chant, and was Henry perfectly executing an anxiety curbing foot massage? "Charlotte's holistic care specialist taught me this for self care. I have to do it on myself before meditation. Helps me to find some inner peace and relax. Then, I set in that quiet place inside of me, and meditate. Think about all the things that didn't go wrong, all of the potential good things ahead of me. It takes me out of my current pain for a while. Helps me see past whatever suffering I currently have. Puts it in perspective… that it's temporary."

"What are some potential good things you think of?" Jasper wondered, already feeling the peaceful effects of this footrub, or the sluggishness of Siren's super booze.

"I think about being awake and seeing Charlotte graduate, getting married, having kids and decorating their rooms in Lady Danger stuff, hanging out in the ManCave again, with working legs, but not having to rush to any crimes, seeing you get married and have kids, seeing Piper…"

"You'd better say take over the world," she warned, not even glancing up from her phone.

"The world of motherhood," he said. She rolled her eyes.

Jasper chuckled, "Piper doesn't want kids even though she'd be a great mom."

"Nothing about me makes a great mom and when would I ever make the sacrifices to take care of another human?"

"She says, with a crying dude on her shoulder," Henry pointed out.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm too drunk to move. Why do all of your 'good thoughts' involve kids anyway?"

Henry smiled and switched to Jasper's other foot, "Because kids are the ultimate sign that there is a future. When you can bring them into the world, that means that heroes have done their jobs. That what we sacrifice mattered. It's how my mind manifests my previous life's worth."

She dropped Jasper off her shoulder, "Doofus sobered me up. By the way, I sent the Bilskys after Melvin. They'll show _him_ a parted path."

"Piper!" Jasper called out.

"You're welcome!" She yelled, stepped out of the bedroom and snatched a drink from the first person she saw. Jasper shook his head and said, "She means well, but refuses to acknowledge that all of life's problems can't be solved with thug life." Charlotte and Henry threw each other confused looks. Henry shrugged his shoulders and Charlotte kicked off her heels and climbed into Jasper's bed to give him a shoulder rub while Henry worked on that second foot.

"Are you two trying to give me a birthday threesome? Because, I'm very down with that, but I don't know if I can perform…"

"Absolutely not," Charlotte said. "Never ask again. It won't happen or your darkest day, nor mine."

"Well, I'm also open to seeing you two… do your thing. I heard there would be butt stuff," Jasper said.

Henry gasped, "You discuss this with Jasper?"

Jasper groaned, "Dude! I cannot WAIT until you get your memory back!" Charlotte squeezed a little hard and hurt Jasper. "Ouch!"

Henry froze, but resumed the foot rub, "You and me, both, Jasp. IF that's what's in store for me. I'm getting sharper and stronger all the time, but a lot might just be lost." He stopped rubbing and rolled closer to hoist himself into the bed, too. "But, we can bestie cuddle, since Charlotte's being stingy with all of her goodies." He winked at her and she rolled her eyes. Henry and Jasper cuddled and she now had both of them on her lap, using a hand to stroke each of their hair. Drunk Jasper was even sweatier than regular Jasper. Jasper fell asleep on Henry's chest and when she heard his snoring, she stroked Henry's hair only, "I was extremely impressed with the Henry that I saw tonight. That was old school Hen. The one we all know and love, but with a new school twist. Very familiar, but very fresh. I was moved and touched in a lot of places."

"What I'm hearing is I get seconds and thirds of buttstuff," Henry said.

She laughed, "The gag is, I wanted butt stuff anyway. It was gonna happen whether or not you made up with Piper and really showed up for Jasper.=, but I'm so glad that you did. I'm glad that they both got to see the old you again."

"Joke's on you… I needed to do those things and might not have if you hadn't bribed me with booty."

"Joke's… still on you Hen."

"I get the butt, though, so..."

"As long as we're all happy," she finally ended that exchange.

Jasper said, "I'll be happy if I see you two with some butt stuff."

"For crying out!" Char covered her chest with her hand. "Jasper, I thought you were sleeping!"

"I was, then I heard booty chatter!"

"Booty is magical, Char. Changes lives." She shook her head, and moved to the other side of Henry. "Dude, you know that your party is still raging on out there and we're in here."

Jasper shrugged, "You're the only people I care about spending my moments with." He reached for Henry's hand and pulled it to his chest, then took Charlotte's with the other. Both of them laying, snuggled against Henry like the old days. And Henry smiled to himself that he was still alive to enjoy moments like these in the future.


	26. Rectify My Love

_So, okay - after talking to a few folk on Tumblr, I thought I was in a good enough place for a time jump. I've decided on multiple small time jumps to finally getting to where I intended to be with the story, SO - this might be a long chapter. You're welcome or I'm sorry. Whatever applies. Wanna thank chenoahchantel - Baby just BE there, anytime I produce and gives me some feedback. I love that. Glad to meet daintyurbanprincess. Y'all have been helpful. Big ups to insanity keeps things fun, who sometimes seems to be reading my mind. Idk if you still here, but thank you, as well. Thank all of y'all who read and review. That's helpful encouragement._

 **Rectify My Love**

 _August_

As it turned out, Henry was not prepared to leave Charlotte for a semester, but the possibility that returning to their old dynamic would trigger some memories meant a lot to him. He wanted to be the guy in the photos, all hugged up with her and kissing her. He knew that he could be again - at least he hoped so. The alternative wasn't terrible, because she still loved him, but he feared for something else happening. What if there was another attack and _she_ was hurt? What if he went to sleep one night and was gone again for another year? What if he woke up and lost even more time? What if, somehow, someway, he lost _this?_ That was how he knew that he was happy again. The fear of losing everything. He'd give anything to be cocky again, fearless… But… This version of himself just had too much to lose, if he lost anything else, because all that he had was Charlotte and Charlotte was everything.

The night before his parents came to pick him up, he made her a seafood feast, a floral arrangement, and a handwritten letter for their patio date night. She made love to him under the stars in his chair and they cuddled in it naked, stargazing in the backyard. With her back pressed against him and his arms wrapped around her, he wondered, "Will you still want me, after you've had so much time away from me?"

"Always did before," she told him and glanced back at his face in the moonlight. He squeezed her. Knowing that a lot of his previous outbursts were rooted in his insecurities, they had began to simply take those moments and make them validation confirmation. Henry would simply ask her whatever frightened him, instead of blowing up on her, and she would answer. He would believe her, feel validated and relax about his concerns… or at least shut up about them.

Siren and Jake showed up in the morning to find Henry crying against Charlotte's body. He was in his chair, holding her from behind, barely making a sound but the shaking of his body told them. She was tapping on her Pearpad. "Is he ready to go?" Siren wondered, worried about whatever she was seeing.

Charlotte looked up at them. Henry didn't stop crying onto her butt when they entered. "Ummm.. He'll be fine. I'm making some last minute adjustments to the arm, that might help him settle down some." Henry was breathing hard. "Hen, you okay?" He nodded, face still connected to butt.

"What happened?" Jake wondered.

"He had a mild seizure followed by an extreme anxiety attack."

"Henry… has seizures?" Siren asked.

"This is only the second one that I've seen. He had some cerebrovascular damage from the attack, so I planned on the possibility. It actually scared him more than it hurt him." She tapped again. "There. That should regulate things."

"Is that gonna happen to me again?"

"It shouldn't. I put blockers into your bloodstream." He finally unhanded her and she squatted in front of him to help him catch his breath. "If it does, the modulation in the arm will kick in immediately and the system will alert me. You'll receive care instantly and no matter what I'm doing, I'll be on my way to you." He squeezed her hands. He'd thought he was dying. As though she read his mind, she cupped his face, "You're okay. You're alive. You're healthy. Your parents are here." She kissed him on the forehead and stood back up. "I've got coordinator devices for the two of you."

"Coordinator devices?" The Hart couple repeated.

"They're usually used for kids, but can also be used for special needs loved ones. It syncs together all three of your schedules, plans, notes, etc. So that nobody ever leaves things by the wayside."

"She wants to make sure that if I'm depression sleeping, one of you remembers to poke me with a stick," Henry said.

Siren gasped and Charlotte quickly said, "He hasn't depression slept in weeks… BUT, if his serotonin drops to a certain level, the arm will notate that, so it'll be synced to the Cor D's. You won't have to do anything, because I've programmed it to administer any and everything that he could possibly need, based upon his medical history since his awakening."

"For the most part, I can take care of myself," Henry assured them as they both suddenly looked like they were worried.

"He's completely independent. I just like to know that he's covered, just in case anything happens." She stroked his hair. "This is the most important person in my world." He casually rubbed on her butt and Jake wondered _What is with this kid and her butt?_ Henry began to quietly chant as Charlotte picked up the luggage he was taking to bring it out to the car.

"Henry, we're sorry about this. We know you'd much rather stay here with Charlotte, and by the end of the year, we and the Pages will be prepared to move into our shared condo, so we'll be much closer," Siren offered.

"Mom, I love you guys. I missed you. I want to be with you. It's just… I'm extremely used to my life here. I'm not sure what it's going to feel like being like this in a place that is so familiar, for so long. Here… it was new. I'm used to it _now,_ but… I'll have to unlearn everything about my childhood home, just to navigate it. That's terrifying and stressful."

"All packed up," Charlotte announced, sadly as she peeked inside. Henry rolled to and through the door and they headed for the car together. Siren and Jake hung back to let them say goodbye. Then, he hoisted himself into the seat and Charlotte went to put up his wheelchair in the back. They _really_ needed to get a vehicle to accommodate him. Sure, his arms were getting super strong (and big) but… she let the thought falter. They had been hoping that he'd be ok by now.

Whenever they drove off, Charlotte stood outside watching them until they were out of sight, positive that Henry was probably watching her to see if she was still seeing him off. She was right, and seeing her still there until they were too far away made him feel a little better. For now, she still cared.

Henry worked on installing the wheelchair lift in his parents' house. Jake had tried before he got there and failed. Piper couldn't get Nate the contractor in on time for Henry's arrival and Henry wanted to spend the least amount of time outside of his old room as he could. "You are great with your hands. Where did you get that from?" Jake wondered.

"Work," Henry said. "Never had a desk job, like you." He flinched. He couldn't start this up with his family, now. He _was_ extremely bitter that he and Charlotte were apart, but she needed to focus on school and he needed to see if this was mentally beneficial. "Not that there... is anything wrong with a desk job. I'll probably have to have one, at this rate." He forced a smile. "And that'll be fine."

Jake offered, sadly, "It's no Kid Danger."

"Nothing is," Henry said, with a shoulder shrug.

.

The beginning of the semester was so terrifying for Charlotte. She didn't know what to expect, how far behind she'd be from previous peers, how many of she and Max's mutuals she would have to face (as her professors or upperclassmen), or how she could possibly turn this around in _such a way,_ that she could not only get her life back, but be on schedule with it. It didn't take very long for her to get back into her old groove, but she did notice that people addressed her differently - like she was less than them now, somehow. She had to go over their heads if she wanted to be accepted again. Imagine shirking popularity contests for scholar purposes only to have to put on one at this point in life for those scholarly purposes…

"Hi, Dean. I wanted to speak with you about acceleration testing."

He smiled and looked at his schedule, "Yes, yes! I think that would be interesting to see. A lot of people say that you have to be out of practice after the break you took."

"I didn't _take a break…"_

"But, I've been rooting for a comeback for you the entire time."

"Technically not a comeback, as I was still enrolled and attending lectures."

"What type of advancement are you seeking?"

Charlotte was finally ready to appeal to him, "I need to catch up to myself."

He chuckled, "You've missed so many labs, experiments, studies, projects…"

"I understand that and I plan to make all of them up this semester, hopefully with your help."

"So that you're behind on what you would have learned this semester?"

"No. I'm doing all of it."

"Impossible."

"Not for me. I just need you to approve it." She unlocked her pad and showed him a detailed plan. "I've got the schedule that I need already. I have put myself into free times that the professors, doctors and scientists that I need to work with for each, and worked my school schedule around it. I've done all of the hard part of it. I just need your approval, since no student has ever been so bold before as to ask this. But, if I can get this approved, I pledge to accomplish it and it ends by the start of the Thanksgiving holiday."

"Bring it closer to me, so that I can make sure it's acceptable."

"I can email it to you…"

"Just show me." She moved to his side of the desk with it, pointing and listing the experiments and labs she had scheduled and explaining her method of setting this up until she felt his hand on her waist. "Ummm. Why is your hand there?" She flat out asked.

"Just being friendly, Miss Page. And might I suggest that _you_ be a little friendlier, if you want my help with this plan.."

She slapped his hand away and said, "This plan is flawless! If you're going to be a pig, I'll handle it myself." He guffawed and returned his hand to her person, this time right on her behind. Charlotte gasped and the next thing she knew, the dean was flying across the room. She gasped and covered her mouth. He was unconscious. She heard people scattering around and heading that way. "Ohmigodohmigodohmigod!" She ducked behind his desk and clenched her pendant, whispering, "Ohmigodohmigodohmigod! Ohmigodohmigodohmigod!"

"What the heck happened to you?" someone asked the dean.

Another voice said, "He's unconscious, it seems. Looks like somebody clocked him real good."

"Ugh. Old goon probably got handsy with another student. We'll know if that's the case if he doesn't confess who hit him."

"What the heck did she hit him with?" They looked around, shrugged their shoulders and then helped him up from the floor. "Gotta get him to the doc. Hopefully, the girl is okay."

"We don't _know_ that he got handsy!"

"We know that he probably did."

"Yeah, but with who? She-Hulk?" Their voices were leaving and Charlotte exhaled and snuck out of the office. Whew. She was safe! She rushed through the hallway and went to try to find everyone that she needed to get them to sign off themselves, instead. To hell with that dean… and he'd _best_ believe that when she had the status and the influence, he was going down! All of the people that she needed agreed! Most of them were simply curious to see if she could really accomplish her goal in the semester - of completing all of the hands on assignments and projects that she couldn't do for nearly two years of being away. What they didn't get was that she _could_ do a lot of that… She just couldn't _show them,_ at the time. Some of it, she had recorded footage of herself and the experiments, but was willing to repeat, if necessary. Some of them, she had finished products that she was able to lecture on. Others, she needed to handle in person, right then. It was so heavy that she didn't even get to speak with Henry for days at a time. She'd pass out almost immediately. Sometimes, he kept her awake on her ride home, though. He was irritated that they weren't able to speak much or see each other, but that actually made him remember many nights just like that.

 _End of September_

Being back in Swellview actually did help. Henry found that the simplest of tasks brought back certain things and that whenever conversations happened, sometimes, his mind immediately jumped to other conversations that he had. Everyday was a new morsel. He started having dreams of things that he'd either dreamed or lived before and recording them as soon as he woke up. It was kinda tedious though, and sometimes, he forgot details, so when he next talked to Charlotte he asked, "Hey, do you by chance own anything that can record dreams?"

"No, but we have something in the Man Cave that might. Want me to reach out?"

"On _my_ behalf? No thanks."

"Hey, you won back Jasper and Piper. Schwoz isn't really that upset and would do anything for me."

"But Ray would lose his shit, though."

"You know… you could always just _talk_ to him."

"I'm too embarrassed. I was awful to him."

"Henry, the fact that you still care about what you did to him makes you automatically better than you were at the time. Because you didn't care when you did it. Besides, Ray's done pretty messed up stuff to all of us and we got over it. I know he can be immature, but he loves you and I'm sure he misses you. He's gotta forgive you eventually. But, he's not gonna just offer it. You're gonna have to seek it."

"We talking about the dream recorder?"

"We are not."

"I _thought_ maybe you were speaking forgiveness. Ugh. I'd rather ask for the dream recorder."

"I'll call Schwoz. You… figure out a way to woo Ray. I'll come for the weekend, bring you by the Man Cave, and help you set up at home."

"You mean my parents' house?"

She smiled, "Yeah, I mean your _temporary_ home, unless you're getting comfortable and want to stay?"

"Not at all. I miss the CharShack. I miss you."

"I miss you too."

"Cool. Because, you're a science superstar now. I thought you'd move right on along." His knee bounced.

She pointed at his knee, "Still just reflexes?"

"I've been using the walker, a little bit. I've been thinking about giving the braces a try again." She frowned, remembering how bad a time that was for them. "I think I'm better not only, physically and mentally. We won't have the same problem."

"That was only _part_ of the problem, Henry."

"I know that you're busy, but if you get a chance can you please just…"

"I would do anything for you, Henry. You know that. I just would hate to let you down so badly again, and I'm not any more advanced in that project than I was at the time."

"What if.. what if you got Max to help you?"

Now, her whole face, tone, even the state of her skin seemed to change. "Max is locked up."

"Right, but there are people with the juice to let him work, even still. Your connections.."

"I can't do it," she said.

"The president lady loves you and Max _owes_ us."

"I don't want to work with Max!" Charlotte snapped louder than she planned. Henry stared at her as she fumbled with her fingers. "I trusted him and he almost took the most important thing in my life away from me. Even when I visit him, it makes my skin crawl. To know I was once so close to someone who would put me through this. Who could do something like this to anyone."

"So… you wouldn't do _anything_ for me."

"That's not fair. I can't. I can't be in a room with him, free to move around and feel comfortable or safe enough to focus on working! I wouldn't even be able to do what I need to do with him there!"

"Okay. I'm sorry I asked. It's just I think I remember seeing you two work together. Could've been just a dream."

She paused and sat down, "Describe it to me."

He shrugged, shook his head and told her, "Something was wrong. I didn't know what to do or say, so I kinda tried to help but only made it worse. I made you mean. He was surprisingly nice, though. He said you got that way when work wasn't going right. I watched you two and it was like poetry in motion. You fed off of each other, it was like you had one brain with the combined power of yours. You fixed the issue. I thought it was a sign. It felt so real and so significant. But, was probably just a stupid dream."

He shrugged his shoulders again and she nodded, "Okay. I'll try to get this done." _It would be hell, but maybe she was strong enough to put her feelings about Max aside for Henry's sake._

"Charlotte, I don't want to pressure you."

"That happened. That was a real memory. I thought about that day all of the time while you were sleeping. I had regrets."

"About what?"

"Everything. But with that in particular, the way that I spoke to you, the things I said… And, I knew how you felt about Max. I never should have had you in a position to feel slighted, especially not with him around. That was whenever he unleashed _her_ into your awareness, and I just left the door right open for that. Max owes us, but I owe us, too."

"What else have you had regrets about?"

She laughed and asked, "How much time do you have? Let's see… as far back as _I think I have a crush on someone."_ He furrowed his eyebrows and she realized that he might not remember that they talked about this, but she also realized that he had remembered it whenever she brought it up before. So, she just offered, "I should have just said, I think I have a crush on _you."_ She fiddled with her necklace.

"Wow. Well… That was years ago. That would have sucked for me. You know the kind of pressure I would have felt like I was under? I feel pressure now, and I'm a grown man! Of course, you're even more intimidating now, but… Wow. You liked _me?_ Back then?"

"At that time. But, it went away. I figured it was just a fluke until I started seeing Max and you got jealous and it... I took your feelings into consideration, even though you didn't know it. I would try to avoid talking about Max with you and tried not to come to you about things pertaining to romance and relationships, not just because you were jealous, but because I cared about how you felt about it. It was a real problem for Max. He'd ask me if I had feelings for you, and I would tell him that you're my best friend. Whenever we broke up, he was convinced that it was because of you."

"Was it?"

"No. He'd hurt my feelings and my ego and I knew that I was gonna hold on to that hurt. I also held on to the good, because we were still sleeping together a little while after we broke up." Henry frowned at that bit of information. "Then, I saw you." He chuckled. _Saw?_ "Don't look at me like that. Yes, I'd seen you my entire life, but that day, I _saw_ you. I'd been gradually noticing you, but when you kissed me and I looked into your eyes, I remember wondering, who is this Henry? And, I wanted him. I regret making it casual. I regret not telling Jasper. In hindsight, I was afraid that if I got into something serious with you so soon after Max, it wouldn't last or be real anyway and it might end badly. But, I wish I'd realized that it was Max that I never should have been with. He was great and I adored him, but he was right - I definitely had to have felt the way that I felt about you. I mean, I saw you that night, but I had to have felt something before. I had to be emotionally cheating on him like that whole time and he knew it and kept calling me on it. But, I was so convinced that it was nothing."

"I thought maybe you were into him because he was a smart science dude."

"That was a huge part in it."

"I get a little insecure about that part. You two were inseparable and equally yolked."

"Did… Did you say _yolked…?"_

"Yeah, like donkey yolks."

"It's not… you know what, not important. Max and I were great together, on paper, and even in practice for a bit. He was the science bro that I needed in my life and whenever we worked together, I always felt like I could accomplish _anything._ We should have just stayed friends. I knew he liked me and I wanted him, but if I had just remained friends, none of this would have happened. He might still have a friend, might have had one to see him through the Phoebe issues."

"You were coming into the knowledge of yourself as a free woman and shouldn't make apologies for it. He made his choices, Char. It wasn't because of you that he did this to me. It was all on him. But, to be frank, if he agrees to help me, I think I could forgive him." She scoffed. "I'm serious. I'm tired of being bitter and angry. I want to move on. If I can, awesome. If I can't, as long as the dude tries to do right by me, I feel like I should forgive him. It's not like I can't empathize going kinda crazy over you."

"I can't."

"Empathize going kinda crazy over you?"

"No. Well, I can't do that either, but… I can't forgive him. I don't know if I ever will. Every unkind word you've said to me, every outburst, every crying spell, every pain you've felt, every muscle you can't move, every memory you lost - I can't let go of him doing that."

"You said it was an accident."

"So? He came there to fight you and taunt you. He didn't accidentally take villain slaves. He didn't accidentally send in an associate to stalk me for him."

"Can you work with him, or not? Because, you sound really worked up and I honestly would rather be this way forever than put you in a room with him if it's too hard for you."

"I can do it. But, I can't forgive him… and I don't ever want to be alone with him."

"Of course not. I'll be there, every time."

She nodded at his promise, then smiled softly, "I have to go. Busy day tomorrow."

"You… have non-busy days?"

"Not yet, but I will someday soon. Maybe I can retire at 21 and just settle down here with a cute guy, make him my trophy husband and spoil him."

"Can a person be a trophy husband if he's in a chair?"

"Why wouldn't you be able to?"

"True that. Goodnight, Char."

"Night, Hen. Sleep tight."

.

Charlotte set up Schwoz's device that he had used whenever Henry was stuck in the dream realm and briefly whenever he was in a coma (it wasn't as useful as she'd hoped at that time), only the going in and out… which technically, wasn't as useful either since he woke up not remembering most of it. But, to record his dreams as he slept right now? It would be perfect.

She and Henry went through what records he'd tried to keep himself, with her filling in whenever she knew whether something was a dream or a memory, and when she didn't know, he searched his journals to see if anything corroborated it. "I'll bet Schwoz can invent something in a day's time that does all this work for you?"

"Nah. It's more beneficial to me mentally to sift through it," Henry said, still apprehensive about reaching out to the Man Cave.

"Well, while you do that, I actually have some Man Cave business that I gotta handle."

"What? You're going there when you have free time to be here with me? I can put all of this away and do stuff with you."

She winced, "I know, but this is super important. I'll have all of my contact things available." She gave him a kiss and took off. Henry sighed, but he was heavily engulfed in this, anyway. It was kind of like piecing a puzzle together, but the puzzle was him-damned-self. He didn't think much about her having Man Cave business, because she did still work with them from time to time, though she was currently, technically on a leave while she handled that crazy catch up schedule.

.

Charlotte got a patent for her bioscanning diffuser air conditioner, an internship at President Kickbutt's office, and made the Orbs Magazine 21 Under 21 list. She was back in the elite status, was killing her meticulous makeup schedule, though people mostly seemed to want to ask her about "the Superbattle" that pulled Max from the scientist community, Kid Danger from the hero community, and her (briefly) from her academic career.

It was now common knowledge that she had been personally involved with both. Henry was now unmasked. Max was quietly removed and hidden. Fuzzy surveillance footage had been found of the fight and touched up. She was there. People wanted to know about it, about her. How did she even get two heroes in the first place, but to fight each other, seemingly to the death for her?

"It wasn't at all like that. Max was going through something and Henry ultimately was the person that he took it out on. Henry in turn took it out on Captain Man and unmasked himself. My involvement was simply knowing them all."

"So, you _also_ know Captain Man?"

There simply was no way around it, so she might as well use it. She still needed more status if she wanted to out that pervert dean.."Yeah, I work for Captain Man. He's the hero I work for.. I'm verified on SoulDates & FaceMask as hero support." She opened the app and showed her profile. "See… at the top the little lightning bolt? That means that I've been approved by a hero as their support. That hero is Captain Man. See my friends list? It breaks down support, sidekicks, superheroes. I have one of the biggest hero followings. In fact, I have the highest number of hero and sidekick followers outside of heroes."

"So, you're the most popular regular person on these superhero apps?"

"I'm the most popular non-hero. Nothing about me is regular, though." She giggled. "See my boards? The one on the left is my complaint center. The one in the middle is my timeline. The one on the right side is my praises pennant. Check out some of the heroes that I have thumbs downed complaints. Better yet, check out some of the ones on my praises pennant, giving me props."

"How?"

 _Now, at her 21 under 21 live interview from the photoshoot, Charlotte answers:_

Well, I'm glad you asked. It's because I had hero connections and I made the most of those. I've gotten heavy into technology and invention, so I can help them with everything from their security and cloaking systems in their secret lairs, their gadgets, weapons, tools, and I also do on the job assists. I've literally helped dozens of heroes on mission sites, being their eyes and ears, or sending in reinforcement, sometimes even had to open fire in a danger zone, remotely."

"So… You actually are a hero, in a way?"

"I'd never call myself that. I help heroes to be their best selves for humanity."

"Lady Danger quoted on your FaceMask praises pennant that you are the Lucius Fox of the Man Cave."

Charlotte laughed. "Maybe someday! The Man Cave has a scientist who I was fortunate enough to work under for many years. He's one of the main reasons I went into hero work. I was gonna be content with being an engineer. He said, (she imitated Schwoz' voice), "anybody smart enough can be an engineer, Charlotte. You change the world everyday." And after that I _wanted to_ change the world everyday…

Watching the interview, Schwoz cheered, "That was me!" Ray patted him on the back, with a smile and Piper shushed them.

Charlotte was still speaking, "So, I started working almost exclusively with superhero support and scientists in the hero community. We'd help each other with mental blocks in projects for our heroes, advising and stuff, and during that time, I wound up getting really cool with some of their heroes. One of my friends told me that whenever his boss asks him to do something and he pauses, the boss says, "Call Charlotte." The interview moved to the next person on the list and the Man Cave clapped their hands, cheerfully.

"Good on Charlotte!" Piper said. "She's gunning for the title of the smartest woman alive."

"Which would make her the hottest, because smart is the new sexy," Jasper added.

"Tough is the new sexy," Piper corrected him.

"Well…" He started. She looked like she would punch him and he caved, "I can see that. I can see that."

Schwoz commented, "In my personal experience, smart has always been the sexy." Piper gagged.

"Mine too," Mimi chimed in and shrugged her shoulders.

"Trust me, Mimi, nobody was checking out your smarts," Piper told her and winked.

"I wish that Henry could've been here," Jasper said.

There were groans all over the room and Ray asked, "You just HAD to bring the room down, didn't you, Boy?"

 _November 3rd_

.

If Charlotte couldn't make it into town for his birthday, Henry was very clear that he didn't want to do anything. Naturally, his parents took that to mean that they would bring cake to his room with Jasper and Piper. "What is this?" he asked, annoyed.

Jasper began his birthday song and he just sighed and refused to blow out the candles. "I specifically said that I didn't want you to do anything."

"I was told that you'd do something, if I came," Charlotte said, peeking in. Henry gasped and rushed to get to her, almost stumbling and falling and she gasped too. "Oh my God! Henry! That was like… four steps with no guidance!" He was now latched on to her and glanced around for his walking braces. She spotted them and helped to connect his arms. "How are these forearm crutches treating you?"

"They're making me buff and my shoes extremely dirty," he said.

"Well, Attempt #2 with the leg braces is right around the corner. Now, blow out your freakin' candles." Piper got beeped away at some point and Jasper was right behind her. So, Siren and Jake figured that Charlotte and Henry probably wanted some alone time. Whenever they left, Charlotte sat on the bed and wondered, "How is your dream chronicling coming along?"

"Good. I watch the dreams and I check my journals and I identify what's actually memories. I don't remember them in the traditional way, but maybe Max can help figure out how to retain them like actual memories and not like a story I heard or a thing I saw." She shrugged her shoulders and laid down. She had been moving non-stop and honestly, this trip took a lot out of her. She had made sure she scheduled nothing on this day, even though she was right in the thick of the thickest of her schedule. Henry was still pretty vulnerable, and she'd promised herself that if he woke up, she wouldn't neglect him again, not even for her school or career. But, whatever he was talking about was sounding further and further away and soon enough, he heard her sleeping.

Henry smiled and made his way over to the bed with his crutches. He got out of them and set them aside, then stroked her hair, changed her into a pair of his pajamas and covered her up. Then, he got back into his chair and worked on the painting that he had been working on when his family burst in with the best gift. Even if she was asleep the whole day, he knew she needed it and it meant everything to him that she even showed up with everything that she had going on.

 _End of November_

Thanksgiving holiday for Henry meant a few things. First and foremost, a long visit from Charlotte, and secondly, the end of her unbearably busy schedule. She'd still be busy, but not as busy. She would have some time to get started with his braces again, and that President Kickbutt would have an answer to her Max partnership proposal after the holiday. Plus, he would get to get back into the tradition that began, without his memory of Thanksgiving with the Harts, Black Friday with the Pages… he was looking less forward to the Man Cave ThanksSaturday, but he was telling Charlotte that he was willing t0 forgive Max. If he was truly going to be a bigger person, he had to apologize to Ray. He owed him that.

For Charlotte, it meant a _small_ break before a _huge_ task. Working with Max for Henry. She'd already gotten the approval. She scheduled things for after Thanksgiving to give herself the time to prepare. Mentally, she still wasn't. One of the reasons her working relationship with Max had been so great was because she thought she knew him, thought that they clicked. She loved him, as a friend, even when she didn't as something else. She was angry at him when she found out what he had been up to and she was hurt. But she didn't hate him until he harmed Henry.

At first, she was too scared for Hen to register it. Begging Max to help him. Frightened of what she was seeing. Then, she was too worried about all of the constant work that the doctors were doing to try to stabilize him. Then, she was sad that he was comatose, but knew she had to work to try to help him. She had the time to get angry at Max again. Then, Henry woke up - a completely different person who not only didn't seem to love her anymore, but didn't even care about anything. Someone like living as though dead and besides herself, it was Max's fault.

Max had a dozen guards escort him to his old lab, now Charlotte's though she rarely came into the place. It gave her the creeps. Every memory she had of the place had been tainted. "Max, this is Henry…" She said and turned to see Henry staring at Max, really, _really_ alarmed. "Henry?" Henry fell from his chair and began to convulse.

"What's happening to him?" Max wondered.

"A seizure," she said and rushed over to him to position him properly. This one was worse than the one a few months ago, and almost as bad as the one that he had before then. Charlotte picked him up off of the floor and placed him on the examination bed that she had there for the experiments. She accessed his arm and said, "But, he's receiving the modulations. It won't last long." Whenever he came out of it, he was breathing hard. "Hey. That one was a lot. Are you okay."

"I remember," he said, holding his head.

"That night?" She wondered. "Seeing his face probably triggered the memory.."

"It triggered all of them," Henry said. "I remember everything."He glared at Max and pulled Charlotte closer to whisper, "I think I made a mistake. I don't want you anywhere near him."

Max nodded his head and said, "Henry, I am so sorry for what happened. However, you may find comfort in the fact that I do not remember. I was shot with a memory erasing gun. I had a theory that while I was attempting to heal your body, quite blindly, when I was shot, the gun's force hit you through my telekinesis. That the trauma of your body made the reaction delayed. I was looking forward to experiments. But, if you have your memory back, we are ahead of schedule and can get right to your legs."

"Stay the hell away from my legs," Henry said.

"Wait," Charlotte said, "You really feel like you remember everything?"

"I know that I do. Ask me something. Anything."

"Hmmm… What happened between you and Babe?" Henry furrowed his eyebrows and sighed. "You're reaction alone told me a lot… and convinced me. That's the same reaction you had after Bysh's wedding when I asked." She stared at him, unsure of how to react or take this. This was great news! But, was it really real. She needed to do scans of his brain.

"Charlotte…" Max said and looked around the room.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking at the results of the scans projected from Henry's arm. She looked up at him, "For God's sakes, did YOU just get your memory back too?" Max looked like he was in complete agony.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do what I did. I wanted to hurt Henry, but not like that. I never would have wanted to do that _to you."_

"He absolutely did!" Henry said, answering Charlotte's question and shoving her behind himself.

"I'm not going to try anything but to help you," Max said. "Charlotte mentioned that some forgiving might be done."

"Yeah, well I was clueless short memory Henry when I said that."

"Fair enough. But, I do owe you…" Max lifted his fingers and Charlotte gasped. _He was supposed to have power suppressors in his system!_ But, he seemed to be helping. Henry squirmed around on the table and more and more, his legs began to move. Max informed them, "I studied your x-rays for weeks. I don't have healing properties, but I can connect and jam things into place."

"Does it hurt?" Charlotte asked.

"It definitely does," Henry said, squirming in pain, kicking his legs.

"I'll get the braces on you. They should help with the healing and the pain." She settled her leg braces onto the table and forced Henry's leg still to get each inside of one. "If you keep them on until you're healed, it should only take a few days… If Max is putting things back in place."

"There was a lot of bone damage," Max said, pulling up the x-ray scans on the computer system. "But, I've at least got every crack lined up precisely." Charlotte started crying and Max touched her shoulder, but she slapped his hand away. "I'm sorry."

"That doesn't fix this. Not even you fixing what you could fixes this!" She snapped.

"I know." She slapped him in the face and he nodded. "I deserved that.."

"Shut up!" She screamed and folded her arms. "We had a wonderful friendship. But, it wasn't enough for you. I would have had your back through anything in the world. I dropped _everything_ when you alerted me. Were you ever my friend?" She was crying.

"No." She cried harder. "I wanted you from the day that I met you at the seminar, and everything that I did was just part of that. Then, when I lost you, I still was operating from that selfish place. I wish that I had been your friend. You're an amazing person. You didn't deserve to have to ever go through everything that I put you through." She was going to add and Henry, but Henry had gotten up, tested out those braces (painfully) and punched Max in the face with his right arm. He shook his fingers and looked down at Max. Max held his face.

"You broke Charlotte's heart! She loved you, Dude. What is wrong with you? She could've loved you forever. Maybe not the way that you wanted… Then again, I was often a complete idiot. You might have been able to get her back if you hadn't chosen to be such a dick! And where the heck is your security detail?" He looked around.

Max rose to his feet and smiled, "I had to relieve them of their duties for a bit." Henry clenched his fists and Charlotte prepared to fight, as well. "Don't worry. They're safe. Just… temporarily out of service. I'm not going back to that place, so I have a ride picking me up."

"What?" Henry said but Max simply levitated backwards, through the door. Charlotte rushed to the door with Henry right behind her. "That's Billy and Nora!" She said and held her head. She jumped on her cell phone. "Miss President. We have a problem…"

.

 _Thanksgiving_

Max was in the wind. With powers like his and his siblings,' not to mention the faithful reformed villains or the vigilantes he took in, they accepted that they probably would not see him again. The President had Charlotte under investigation, as the person who had the most access to Matt, had arranged the meeting with he and his siblings, and had basically vouched for him to help her with Henry Hart's body… She was prime suspect in aiding and abetting him. Now, she wanted to slap him in the face again, and Nora and Billy too. But, what would she have done if it were Henry, Jasper, or Piper?

Speaking of, she and Henry were arriving at the same time as Mimi was and they got on the elevator together. Henry eyed her and she blinked at him. Neither of them spoke. She got off of the elevator first and Henry wondered, "WHY is she still around?"

"She and Ray are like… I don't know, a thing. Besides, she's great with technology, so she can provide support for missions. They needed someone else who could. I've been pretty out of commission lately, with catching up in school."

Mimi and Ray were talking whenever Charlotte and Henry got off of the elevator and Ray froze. She must have told him that Henry was there. Ray took a deep breath and turned around to face Henry. He was on those leg braces, which were as bulky as the legs of that battle suit that Charlotte had to control for him a while back when he got flabbergassed, but these were heavier and more mechanical. The braces anticipated the movements of the legs and moved them for Henry, as he couldn't fluently move his legs and while the bones were all healed up now thanks to that excellent technology, the muscles were still being worked on. "Ray," Henry said.

Ray looked at him and nodded, "You can walk again!"

"No. The legs do all of the work until my muscles get strong. It feels like I've just finished a heavy workout, but constantly."

Ray laughed, "That sucks!"

"It does."

"You deserve it."

"I do."

Ray sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "Not really. You took quite a beating. You had me really scared there. I was really happy when you finally woke up."

Henry shook his head, "I just woke up the other day. I don't know who that guy was, the one who was here before me. He was trying, really hard to be me… It just wasn't working. I never should have unmasked that way. I'm sorry that I broke my oath and I'm sorry that I put your identity at risk. Can you forgive me?"

Ray shrugged his shoulders and said, "I forgave you months ago."

"What do you mean?"

"Pipes came in one day and said, 'Henry is still stupid, but we don't hate him anymore,' and since she's always right, I got over it."

"What? That can't be a true story. Piper just _said_ it and you agreed and followed through? You _never_ did that with me."

"We agreed all the time!" Ray argued.

"Yeah, about like hot ladies and nacho toppings."

"And also what we think of people! Remember, we both hated that Max prick LONG BEFORE he became Superheroes Most Wanted."

"He was a douche," Henry said.

"He _is_ a douche!" Ray corrected. Then smiled, "But, he fixed your legs, right?"

"Sort of. A lot of my bones healed wrong or there were longrunning fractures that weren't rectified. He basically reset my skeleton to how it's supposed to be. Charlotte's done everything else…" They looked over at Charlotte, leaning over Mimi's shoulder at the panel.

"She's something else," Ray said. "I'm really proud of her. I even told her to her face when she asked me about identifying her hero."

"I was surprised that you agreed to that."

"Yeah, well… I'm not getting any younger. In the past few years I've watched you kids become adults and live these lives that I never even imagined for myself. I missed my childhood because of my father, and I've spent all of my adulthood following the path that I missed my childhood for."

"You sound like you want to quit," Henry said.

"I do. But, I'm not." Ray sighed, "Piper would have the city under control, but what would I even do? I didn't go to college. I don't own a real business."

"Maybe you could do those things?"

"At my age? My tender young age of 36?"

"You've been saying that you're 36 for at least 5 years, Dude. How old _are_ you?"

"36, as we just established again." Ray patted Henry on the back and said, "Go back to school, pick a career, and if you think after all of that, that you wanna suit up again, there's _always_ going to be a place for Kid Danger in the Man Cave. Just, don't let the hero life be all that you ever knew. You almost died. 20 years old. Almost died horribly, having spent your best years slaving beneath me. I groomed you as much as my irresponsible father did me. You're 22. You still have time to do things."

"You still do, too," Henry said.

"Maybe. I can't see it, though. You, I can see it for." Ray and Henry hugged for a moment, then pulled away, like they were both confused as to why they would do that.

.

 _December_

Henry rushed back to the CharShack, now that he had his memory back. Sometimes, he would have nightmares that he lost it again, or that it was only a dream that he got it back. He'd wake up screaming until he heard Char's calming voice say, "Henry, it was only a dream. Lay down. Go back to sleep…" It was a recording, but it still counts. Charlotte was always gone, now. She would shoot him a text to remind him that he had to take off the leg braces. He would wear them forever, if he could, but she warned him that over-usage could cause permanent damage to his muscles. They were uncomfortable, but he could walk in them and he still couldn't by himself. The forearm crutches, his "old man" walker, and the wheelchair were still very active tools in his life whenever he had to take off the braces. But, he was doing better and better all of the time. He was glad that the semester was almost over for Char. She had caught up and had one more until her _first_ college graduation. Henry wanted to be able to walk on his own, by then. More importantly, he wanted to be able to get down on one knee, by then.

 _March_

Henry was asleep when his arm alerted him with vibration and a loud noise. He jumped up and opened the hologram. It was a woman with a gold chain veil, a gold halo crown and a druid robe, hanging off of her head and off of her shoulders. That was Char's Pagemaster outfit. "Char, what's up?"

"My apologies, Henry. I am the Pagemaster Computer System Interface."

"The what?"

"I'm Charlotte's computer. Not Charlotte."

"Okay… Where is Charlotte?"

"This is why I have contacted you. I have lost my connection to Charlotte and you were the next person on the list for me to contact in case of this situation."

He sat up and said, "Activate lights." The lights came on and he pulled himself into his wheelchair. "Okay, so… It's _my_ understanding that you are connected to Charlotte's vitality."

"I have an implant in Charlotte's body. Losing connection to her means that either the connection has been tampered with or removed, or Charlotte has no vital signature."

"So, either the implant is dead… or Charlotte is… dead?" He whispered, trying not to cry.  
"Yes."

"Can you tell me the last place it was working?"

"Would you like to see a map?"

"Yes." His arm projected a map with a red dot as the last place Charlotte's signature was detected. "What am I looking at, Interface?"

"The lair that the Man Cave team tracked Gwen to."

Henry blinked and tilted his head, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Charlotte was on a mission with Captain Man and Lady Danger, with Man Cave backup assistance when there was an explosion and I lost contact with all." Henry's eyes were now full of tears as he asked, "Can you put yourself in my arm, please?"

"That is within my programming by Charlotte's command, or in the event that Charlotte is undetectable and the person making the request is who I contacted on her behalf." The hologram refreshed and announced, "My system is now working through your arm."

"Contact a wheelchair accessible car service to bring me to the Man Cave."

"It is done."

Henry got dressed and was outside by the time the car picked him up. He switched his arm to screen mode, watching on his forearm, instead of a projector. Yeah, the general public knew he was Kid Danger, but Charlotte wasn't huge on flaunting and he needed as little stress as possible while the Pagemaster system tried to locate her and the others. He was getting out at Junk N Stuff whenever Schwoz finally contacted him. "Henry! Hi. He watched the car drive away then opened the hologram mode.

"Schwoz! I'm outside of Junk N Stuff. Where is Char?"

"Well…" Schwoz jumped as something blew up around him, forced a smile and sighed. "I don't know. I'm on site, trying to locate them, but there was an explosion and the signal has been affected. Minder will unlock the doors. She is working from inside the Cave."

"Why is Charlotte at an assignment scene?" Henry asked, but the connection was giving out, so he couldn't hear anything that Schwoz was saying, then there was _another_ explosion and they were cut off completely.

Henry got off of the elevator and pulled opened his braces briefcase. "What happened?" He asked Mimi, with no other pleasantries."

"At 1200 hours, Captain Man, Lady Danger and Pagemaster entered the lair of The Chemist to take her in and shut down her operation. We estimated a 30 minute minimum for extraction, with an additional maximum of 10 for Pagemaster to disarm any defensive protocol in the system." Henry stood up from the chair and went over to the screens with her. "By 1245, Captain Man and Lady Danger were escorting The Chemist to the vehicle, and the facility exploded."

"With… With Char _inside?"_

"That remains unclear," Minder said.

"Why was she even there?" He practically exploded.

"She was the best person for the job," she replied, simply.

"Don't _you_ do the same thing that she does, only IN THE FIELD?"

She chuckled nervously, "I wish I could be so braggadocious. She is an award winning, nationally observed scientist. We both use a computer, yes. Can I do what she does?" Now, she cackled and shook her head, pressing more buttons.

"Come in Man Cave." It was Piper!

"Lady Danger, this is Mischief Minder. I'm in the Man Cave with Kid Danger. What is your 20?"

"...He's in the Man Cave. What does he know?"

"I'm here! What _should_ I know? Charlotte went on a mission with you and was in a building that blew up! Is there more?"

Lady Danger sighed and said, "I can't talk long. The connection is in and out. The explosion damaged the satellites. Have you had any word from Captain Man or _Pagemaster?"_ She emphasized, since their connection was bad, their security could be compromised, as well.

Mimi replied, "Captain Man's last location was heading back into the building when it exploded. I don't know if the images are correct, because they show The Chemist and Pagemaster inside, you outside and him quickly heading inside. The last update that I got was that you and he were outside and Pagemaster was inside disarming the alarms."

"Ugh. That bitch cut me in the face and made a dash. I took a moment to cauterize my cheek and she ran back inside with Cap on her tail. She must have set something off in there."

"So Char..Pagemaster WAS inside of the building when it blew up?" Henry leaned against the panel with his chest aching. He'd convinced himself that she couldn't be, she would have found a way out, found a loophole, found something smart to do to avoid this. His arm detected an anxiety attack and moderated accordingly.

Lady Danger's voice was softer now, "Kid Danger, whatever happens - I'm going to bring her out."

"I can't handle losing her," he said, forcing a sniffle away.

"She's smart and she's strong. Don't think the worst," she said, and the call disconnected.

Mimi pressed buttons and shook her head, "We lost contact."

"What was she wearing?" Henry wondered. "Did she go in with a supersuit? Did she have on some kind of armor?"

"She has a Pagemaster field design costume for when she has to make an appearance and her typical garb won't be efficient."

"So, she's done missions before!"

"She… has. There are a couple of ongoing projects that she feels very deeply about and wants to see them through. One of them is The Chemist's black market superdrug cartel. The other is the Thunderman outlaws. When we have information regarding either, she wants to be in the loop and the decision for her to go in last night happened very quickly."

"Too quick for her to tell me."

"We didn't think it would be this difficult. But, the Gwen that I knew is not there, anymore. This pastless woman with all of that intelligence and ambition, and quite frankly, probably the desire to have a name and reputation, having none that she knows of… She's far more dangerous than my friend was." Mimi got up from the seat and went to Henry, "But, Charlotte is one of the most resilient people that I have ever met. She's strong and I'm confident that she's alright. If she isn't, there are few people in this world who care about her more than Ray and Piper. They will find her. They won't rest until they do."

"Tell me where they are. I have to go help."

She gave him a look, "Henry."

"Mr. Danger, to you. Pagemaster Interface."

"Yes, Henry?"

"Call me Mr. Danger. I'm going in on a mission. Set up coordinates for Charlotte's last known location and give me directions." He marched over to the gum supply backup and thumbed through them… "How many of you have costumes?" he asked and snatched one of Charlotte's tubes.

"You probably just want to get one of the others…" Mimi tried, but he was blowing the bubble. She shrugged as he transformed into a flexible movements catsuit like costume with gauntlets full of buttons that he didn't understand, a belt of supplies he wasn't sure of the usage for, a mask that covered his entire face, but had a voice changing, moisture retention net over his mouth and changeable vision lenses over his eyes, which looked like spider's eyes, and a struggle bun at the back of his head. Her bun was probably excellent… "That suit is for a really advanced computer specialist. But, here… It's your old Kid Danger battlesuit. You may need to be super strong, if there's… Debris to pick through…" She handed him a different tube.

"Was she wearing _this_ when she blew up? Because it's really nice and comfortable, but does it have some type of protectiveness to it?"

"It has a body armor trigger for impact… I'm not sure of it's potential against explosions," she confessed. "Before you ask, she didn't make this specifically to keep it from you. She designed the outfit while you were down." He blew his bubble and became Kid Danger again, but with an updated battle suit. He looked at it. "Yeah, she redesigned those too. She had a lot of time on her hands, not being able to be in a lab as much."

Henry rushed over to the tubes, in this bulky outfit, glad that the leg braces were acknowledged as part of him and not clothing to change out of, but already feeling sluggish from the weight of all of this. Then again, Charlotte was in danger, lost, or _worst_ and a renewed strength, determination and speed washed over him. Either his adrenaline was pumping, or the arm was modifying him. Either way, he started, "Up…" and his body was sucked through. He tiny screamed at the unexpected activation.

Mimi returned to the screens and tried to contact the team again, "Captain Man. Come in Captain Man…"

.

"Know what would be awesome? This suit, with a different color scheme than Captain Man's, but with mask tech like Pagemaster's…" Henry said, speeding away in the Mischief Mobile.

"I'll put that in my notes," the Interface told him.

They arrived at this scene. He could hardly see anything through the thick, green smoke He felt his lungs hurt for a moment, until a Man Cave gas mask appeared on his face. The way that things just kicked in like that was alarming, but his lady could do anything, so he was impressed that this was a costume action, now. Probably worked the same way as moderations from his arm. Detect the poisonous fume, and the mask is now _part of_ the costume without the bubble in between…

"I've located Lady Danger, Mr. Danger." The GPS signaled in on her and Henry rushed over to her.

"Lady Danger!" He called.

She turned, suddenly, and gathered him with her rope before she realized who he was. "Kid Danger?" She said and released him. "What are you doing here. I told you that I would find her."

"Have you?"

"Not yet!"

"Then, me being here can't hurt," he said. They went to the last place where Charlotte's signal showed and Henry reflexively covered his mouth. "Her suit doesn't have like a flying mechanism in it, does it?"

Lady Danger said, gently. "She's most likely under all of this.." She sobbed and began to try to remove the rubble.

"Hey… back up," he told her, softly and rubbed her arms. She complied, scared and guilty, moved out of his way. He used the laser to form a circle then his power suit to pick up the collected rubble and fling it aside. "Hey.. Lady Danger…" he called. She came over and they looked down and saw another hole that went down far. "I think she thought of something."

She flung a daggered rope down and he watched it dig into the ground as she found something to tie the other end to. She moved very quickly, so he wondered if her things would be efficient enough to hold up, but within moments, she was climbing down the rope. There was no way that was gonna hold him though… He climbed down using the layers of the lair like he was rock climbing. Whenever he reached the bottom, there they were.

Lady Danger was scanning vitals. Kid Danger removed Pagemaster's mask to see that it was indeed Charlotte. She was unconscious and barely breathing, though. Captain Man was wrapped around her like a shield. Gwen was nearby, seemingly dead. "Captain Man, status report," Lady Danger said. Kid Danger only _just_ realized that Captain Man was conscious.

"I tried to save her," he said. He didn't say anything else.

"Well, good job. She's alive," Kid Danger told him and firmly removed him from wrapped around Charlotte. While he got the Pagemaster computer to scan Charlotte via his arm, Captain Man sat down with his elbows on his knees and Lady Danger collecting Gwen's body to try to get her up the rope.

"Charlotte needs immediate medical attention," the interface told them.

Captain Man scoffed and sniffled, "I am tired of holding my kids' lifeless bodies in my arms…"

"Only this once," Lady Danger said, "You're the only one of us strong enough to quickly get her up out of here by this rope." He moved into action at that realization and Henry climbed up after him. Lady Danger tied Gwen up and the woman coughed. "You're alive?"

She opened her eyes and they glowed green. "I'm evolved," she corrected and broke free from the ropes Lady Danger put on her. The hero screamed and rushed up the rope and out of the hole. Gwen was on her tail, but she kicked her in the face, sending her back down and tried to contact the Man Cave, "Please come in. The Chemist is some kind of super beast and I have her in a hole, but I have no idea what I can do to her. The explosion doesn't seem to have harmed her at all!"

Mimi came in, "Oh no, not Project Gwenesis."

"Not project WHAT?" Lady Danger said and fired her zapper at the woman, "I'm a terrible shot and she keeps coming after me! What is happening?"

"Gwen used to talk about making a weapon that would be genetically engineered to her and her bloodline, and anyone with genetic coding like hers. The weapon would destroy everything but them, making them all a more evolved human and taking the destruction it leaves in its wake and remaking it into a better world. A world that she's queen of. This was something that we weed chattered about in college and she'd sometimes bring it up when we had wine nights, but... If there was an explosion and she came out changed, but fine… That's what it sounds like."

Lady Danger finally hit her with the zapper and she fell unconscious again. "How the frick frack do I collect her? She broke the ropes like they were paper!"

"Looks like Schwoz is near you. Between the two of you, you'll think of something. Good lu-" They were cut off again.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Lady Danger screamed. This was the worst night. She just wanted to lock this chick up or bury her and go check on her friend and her brother! Schwoz arrived and she cut off his friendly and inappropriately cheerful hello with, "Schwoz, there is a chemically altered shebeast down there that we gotta take in. Think of something. I wanna get her and get on, so we can check on Charlotte."

"When systems are affected, my code name is Schwozzenator."

"You're not even in a suit."

"I have a gas mask protecting…"

"SECURE THE SHEBEAST!"

"Alright, alright. Jeesh. Try to be professional…"

.

Charlotte woke up in the Charteau, wondering if she'd dreamt that horrid mission with the Man Cave team. But, she climbed out of bed and her body was ACHING. She had on a pair of Henry's pajamas - something he had been doing for her every time she fell asleep on him (just a cute little "I still love you, even though you fell asleep when we were supposed to be spending time together" for her to wake up to). Her hair was moisturized and braided. She heard cheery voices on the patio. She looked out at them and Ray was on the grill, Henry was standing near him, drinking a bottle of soda and laughing about something.

Jasper was insisting that Piper taste this side that Henry had made, even being so bold as to try to shove the plastic fork into her mouth. It was sunny outside and Schwoz was getting Mimi to take photos of he and Katelyn. Mimi was in a bikini, eager to get to the pool, but took the photos so that she could do so without him returning to bother her while she was swimming.

Char stepped outside, and she realized her feet weren't touching the ground. Great. _This_ was the dream. I'm probably actually dead. She sighed and looked around, passing right by them without them noticing her. I do like how well my brain works when I'm in a dream though. Mastered it!

"Pagemaster!" She heard a voice say and she turned to see Gwen. "Everything you love, I will destroy!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and woke up, for real, this time, in the Charteau.

She quickly got up, yes in pajamas, though a different pair. Yes, hurting. Yes, she heard voices. She rushed out and saw everyone sitting on the couch. Nobody was cheery. Nobody was laughing. They were just speaking about plans and stuff. This was more realistic…

"Hey…" They turned and everyone gasped. She waved at them and Henry rolled over and collected her into a hug, which made her fall onto his lap and he held tight.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

"I had dozens of dreams of the ways that everything could have gone wrong. Somebody fill me in on what did happen." She knew that he probably wanted to talk more to her in private about her secrets, but Piper had the room, now.

"Gwen, aka The Chemist, _finally_ perfected the drug that she had been working on for the past several months. Only, we have found that it wasn't a drug at all, it was a weapon. She used drug addicts as her lab rats, knowing that society would not be as outraged with them being used as other citizens…" Charlotte was already furious about the invalidation of human life because of the illness of addiction! "She tested them up until it seemed that she had the formula perfected. Then, she tested it on her own grandmother, who was in Swellview Pines Nursing Home, seemingly died, but woke up and began destroying everything in her path! Several old people were harmed in her awakening. Gwen removed her from the place and hid her in her lair - that was how we got wind of where she was, because the old lady had one of those old lady trackers for old ladies who get lost." Charlotte nodded. She knew that much, so maybe Piper was saying that for Henry's benefit. "The lair extraction was an ambush. If you want to try to release something dangerous that will kill everyone else and make you better, the towns heroes are the perfect testing targets. If it works, you've started your reign with all of them gone out of your way. If it doesn't, they still might come out injured," she pointed to Charlotte, "or scarred," she swiped a hand across a slash on her face and Charlotte gasped upon noticing it.

"What happened?"

"She cut me. WITH one of my own daggers!" Piper fumed.

"The scar has character," Jasper said.

Piper blushed and brushed her hair hair with her fingers, "Anyway, so now, we have her in a super cell in Metroburg, her grandmother in another and she keeps threatening that she will reduce the place to ash and that the world is next. So…"

"So… Do we have any info on her studies of the weapon that she did this with?"

"Pagemaster spent the time downloading all of that into her system, instead of getting out of a building that was about to blow up," Henry said, through his teeth. She sighed with relief. "Wrong response." She held her heart and looked at him apologetically. "Better."

 _April_

Pagemaster had gotten one of those space image regulators for her birthday, so Charlotte set it up in the Charteau for her party that Henry had planned and made the inside of the place look like a garden paradise. Henry commented, "Now, I _want_ our house to look like this."

"Who'd take care of it, though?"

"Obviously me," he said, laughing.

"Okay, Mr. Obvious. What about the going back to school that you said you decided to do in the fall?"

"Well, you graduate next month and fall semester isn't until August. You're gonna be available to help me pass class and I'll have free time to take care of the plants. Besides, I'm going for horticulture, so it should be helpful. Like your little home lab in your first apartment."

"What?"

"I know, it was more like an office with an experiment kit, but you had to start somewhere."

"You're going to school for horticulture?"

"I sure hope I used the right word," he said and consulted his phone. "Oh, yes. I did. And, yes, I am. I'm very good with plants and I love flowers. I don't need a business degree, because I'm never taking over the fake store, and I can do something I love because I'm a trophy boyfriend." She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Are you happy rolling?"

"I'm your so silly but I love you rolling." She gave him a kiss. "I'm so proud of you." She glanced at the briefcase on the bad and wondered, "Are you wearing braces tonight?"

"No. I was just putting them away, actually. I don't need them."

She stared at him, "You don't need them because you've accepted your walking journey is what it is and you'll recover in your own natural time, if you recover at all, or you don't…" She yelped when he picked her up and stood up. "You don't need them!"

"I don't," he said, smiling and kissed her. He sat back down, with her straddled on him, "But, I don't know if I'm ready to come out of the chair to everyone. Just you. Because, I don't want us to have secrets. If we're really gonna be Hashtag Henlotte and be it for the rest of our lives, I wanted to tell you the truth, and I wanted it to be today. A birthday surprise."

She cleared her throat and nodded. He knew that she still had a secret that she hadn't shared with him and he wasn't sure if it was because she knew he had a secret or she just didn't trust him, or what! "I have one too," she said.

"Okay."

She sighed and reached for his hands, "I found out whenever you were in the coma. You had some kind of spasm and fell from the bed and had a seizure. You disconnected yourself from the machines and I rushed over, panicking and worried. I picked you up, put you in the bed and reattached everything. After I got you back stable, I realized that I probably shouldn't have been able to do that so easily. I presumed that I had an episode of hysterical strength, you know - like the stories about women lifting cars to save their babies. Besides, it wasn't a car, it was you. You're just a person, not a super ton vehicle. But, I'd picked you up as easily as I would a Barbie doll! So, I ran some tests and since I didn't want to worry anybody that I cared about, I asked Mimi to look over the results for me. But, she already knew what the situation was.

Remember that time that Dr. Minyak kidnapped me and reprogrammed me?"

"I reference it nearly every time I see that woman."

"You should stop. That's in her past."

"Back to the subject, though…"

"Well… apparently whenever I was unprogrammed, that killed the assignment to destroy Captain Man and Kid Danger.. But the super strength was a different process and we never undid it, because we presumed that it was part of the programming. I never used it, because I didn't know I had it and I had no reason to think or try otherwise. So it was dormant until I needed it." she looked at their intertwined fingers, worried about what his expression might be. "I wanted to tell you sooner, but you were going through a lot and to be honest, I thought that if you knew that I had a superpower, that would have been the last straw and you would be done with me. You were mad at Piper for being Lady Danger. You were mad about your losses. I couldn't handle the thought of you finding this out and holding it against me.." She looked up at him.

"I mean, it definitely adds to my list of reasons you're out of my league."

"How? You _still_ have hypermotility."

"Yeah but, you can throw dudes," He laughed and kissed her on the nose, "And you can carry me across the threshold!" He reached into the side of his chair, and pulled out a ring box, "I mean, if you still want to? I don't have to be a trophy husband, as long as I get to be Mr. Charlotte Page."

Her eyes welled with tears as he revealed the heart shaped rose quartz ring with rose gold engraved with primrose etchings in it. "You had a ring custom made for me, AND you wanna take my name?"

"I have made the name Henry Hart a little more than I want to deal with AND I actually made this ring myself! Learned some jewelry trade whenever I was trying to get used to the new arm, and had some away from Charlotte time when you were doing that crazy mad schedule, so…" She cut him off with a kiss and they continued kissing while working together to slide that ring onto her finger, without breaking the kiss contact.

 _Two Years Later_

Nobody asked him about his legs or walking anymore. Not even Charlotte. She used to wonder when he was going to tell people that he could actually walk again. When he was going to go ahead and be clear about it, but he was fine with it just being _their business,_ and she got used to it. Their families and Cave friends knew, though nobody ever asked about it. Most of them figured it was something psychological and they just didn't want to tap on that, since at least he was happy and had been for a couple of years now. No depression cycles, no nightmares or night terrors, no mood swings or outbursts, and no memory gaps or lapses. If after everything he went through, his most questionable quirk was choosing to remain in a wheelchair like he couldn't use his legs; nobody who loved him was gonna give him hell. He got married in the leg braces, since he wasn't out to his family at that time, but even around the house, sometimes he was in the chair. That part weirded Charlotte out sometimes, but she was part of the _Leave well enough alone_ percentile.

"I'm just wondering what you're gonna tell Hamilton about it," she said at dinner.

"Hamilton?" He wondered. He'd heard that name before, but couldn't place where. It was a president… or a stage actor… He laughed, why would it be either of those things. "Hamilton Who?" he asked, trying to be slick.

"Hamilton Page," she said and touched her belly. Henry was a little slow on the draw sometimes. He was going to ask if he met this Hamilton Page and what was her relation to him, but then he noticed her "c'mon Hen" face, the rubbing of her belly and remembered his coma dreams.

"Hamilton PAGE!" He cheered excitedly and rushed to her belly. "Oh my God. He's IN there? For how long? I wonder how many stupid things he's heard me say. I feel like I gotta be extra careful. Dude, it's Dad. Can I call him 'Dude?' WAIT - we _know_ it's Hamilton and not Henly?"

"You mean Charlotte, and yes. I ran early detection scans and this will be a male viewed body, so they're Hamilton, unless they figure out something else in the future."

"They're gonna be perfect," he said and kissed the not even visible yet bump on. "I'm gonna have to be worthy of them. Hey, Dad's gonna be everything you could possibly dream, okay? Daddy's gonna be your superhero." She stroked Henry's hair and smiled. He never answered her question, but even though he'd been happy for a while, this was still the happiest she had ever seen him, so she left it be, again.


	27. The Rebirth of Danger

**The Rebirth of Danger**

Henry went for evening jogs after nightfall, all of the time. He'd tie a black bandana on his face, throw on his running stuff, a hoodie, sometimes a beanie, if it were cooler and gloves if it was cold, and jog, run, sometimes push himself super hard, sometimes, just stroll around the neighborhood, sometimes around town. Sometimes, he did freerunning. Sometimes, he found abandoned buildings and went exploring them. And sometimes, he saw criminal activity.

The first time, he minded his own business. He wasn't a hero anymore, and it was just some kids spray painting. He'd seen so much dastardly stuff in his life, he didn't even care about vandalism like he did when he was young. He walked up behind him and said, "That's pretty goood," and they dispersed quickly. He took a photo of the artwork and posted it with the caption, "Just scared off the future artists of the country. Was just tryin' to encourage the youth." He figured that the city would have someone remove it the next day and wanted their artwork on the record. He walked home, wondering what kind of home lives they had.

Whenever he had to take down a group of vandalizing kids, he hadn't thought enough about what their situations were, that they'd be out making their mark on the city to express themselves. Maybe they felt ignored at home and the only mentor they had was a wall defacing criminal. Maybe these kids had no supervision and translated that to nobody loving them. Hamilton was never going to have to feel that way. He loved that kid already, just being in there.

He and Charlotte would meditate and do yoga together with the baby in there, probably doing whatever he thought they were doing out there. They played music, TED talks, documentaries, college lessons, storybook tales, and hero reports for him. Charlotte explained all of her science work. Henry explained all of the details of his schoolwork, or hobbies. He didn't know if anything would click with the kid, but they were determined that he was socially conscious, one way or another. Whenever Charlotte was at work at the President's office, he would always be super excited. She tried stick on speakers (much like headphones, but smaller and less conspicuous) to play him tranquility mantras, classical music, soft jazz… nothing calmed him down until Henry played something from his phone. "Oh my God, what is that? They're totally cool now!"

"Gangsta rap,"Henry said, with a shrug. Charlotte ripped off the stick ons and Hamilton fought her from within. "He's like his dad," he said.

"I'm not soothing my baby with GANGSTA RAP!"

"We can find some peaceful, chill hip hop, Babe." He stuck them back on and scrolled for just that. Hamilton was chill, only seeming to groove a little, and on beat, at that. "I love this kid. That's a cool baby, in there."

"How does hip-hop calm them down but soft jazz doesn't?"

"He's probably fighting his sleep with that soft jazz. And classical. And opera is mostly people scream singing, so of course that's not calming. I need to make you a work playlist so that you can just stick 'em on and let it vibe him, since we obviously have the same taste in music. Point for Daddy."

"We're really gonna count points like you can even compare to the hours of actually carrying them that I'm doing? The bodily changes? The bodily functions? The being the most uncomfortable I've ever been in my life, for a series of months, JUST so they can live?"

"Well, none of that is his fault, so I don't count it. But hiphop is his own lifestyle choice," Henry said and started trying to give her belly some dab. She swatted him away and he whispered loudly, "Mommy's a hater!"

"You'd be a hater too if you spent an entire government meeting with your baby trying to kick his way out of your body only to find out that all I had to do was play vibes rap."

"And now you know. Crisis averted. I'll make you dinner." Henry left the room and she got a ping from her V-Force Watch system. She pulled it up and saw someone running after another person. He caught them, grabbed a purse and brought it back to a frazzled woman. The satellite scanners scanned him for his info and she made note of his identity, but didn't put it into the database. Probably just a good Samaritan doing a good deed, like most of these pings were.

The Thundermans had been in the news recently. They sent in a V-Force video showcasing a lot of the good works that they had been doing while living life on the run, in hiding. Max declared that it wasn't fair that his family and friends had to be subjected to lesser lives because of a mistake that he made years ago and that he would gladly turn himself over if that meant that they would all be free to just live their lives. President Kickbutt was not in the habit of forgiving him for making her look like a fool in losing him, after she'd assured the regular human government that she would handle him. She made a special watch team JUST to try to ensure that none of the vigilantes out there were a part of their team or being inducted into their group. Wherever their lair was, was well-hidden, but they knew most of the ones who had conspired to get Max out of custody. Those who had not were still being closely watched, just in case old friends came to them.

All of it made Charlotte uncomfortable. They were treating the entirety of the V-Force like they were dangerous terrorists, when really, Max was the only one that she feared, and he hadn't done anything so destructive in years. Maybe he was alright now. The group was doing what he initially envisioned - turning villains and vigilantes into heroes. As far as anyone knew, they were still following that objective. They just were harboring the Superheroes Most Wanted Villain and probably following his lead for things. President Kickbutt and Charlotte were the two people who most wanted to catch him.

Gwen, or Gaia, as she now called herself had to have around the clock surveillance of a superpowered guard to keep her contained. For nearly 3 years, she had been destroying every cell they locked her in. She would either break it, crumble it, vaporize it… every kind of cell that they put around her, she figured out how to adjust her power to destroy it. And if she got near enough to touch someone, she could corrode them and make them grow into something else - something loyal to her. Charlotte and team were working very hard to create a cell that would indefinitely hold her. "Why not just kill her?" Henry asked.

"Is that what we do? Kill people?"

"No, but she stopped being people when she purposefully set off a chemical bomb that made her a green blooded she beast with destructo-touch."

The tests we've run indicate that we don't have a weapon that could kill her. She'd go down for a while and her body would destroy the instrument or product inside of her and she'd probably use it against her attacker."

Henry thought for a while, as he stood at the kitchen island and ate Nutella out of the jar, "What if you lure Max out of hiding, catch him, toss him in as her permanent guard?"

"What if what?"

"It's his fault she's like this. She was satisfied with successful robberies achieved via muffin subterfuge and he kidnapped, tortured and enslaved her so that her memories were taken and the resulting identity crises made her invent an evil identity for herself. He should body crush her whenever he wants to sleep or eat, when she regenerates, they fight again and that just be their purgatory."

"Are you gonna eat that entire jar?"

"You… said you didn't like it with Hamilton in there."

"No, but that can't be healthy. Aren't you about to go jogging?"

"It pumps me up."

.

The second time, he reluctantly interfered. He'd watched this guy following a woman and giving her a hard time. He sighed, full of Nutella and hoping that the guy was simply a creep. But what if he wasn't?

Henry speed walked to catch up to the pair and just in time saw the guy bending the woman over a railing and appeared to be trying to get her out of her clothes. Henry called, "Hey!" And unfortunately, Buddy had a knife that he put to the woman's throat and told Henry to beat it.

Well, Henry assessed the situation, consulted his arm in screen mode and saw exactly where he should stand, jump, grab on for support and drop kicked the guy over the rail. He didn't fall far, but he did fall on his knife. The woman was terrified, but still managed to say, "Thank you, Mister!"

Henry asked, "Do me a favor and call the cops? I don't want them knowing that I was here." She nodded and pulled out her phone to do so. Within moments, the stranger dressed in black was gone.

Charlotte got a ping on her V-Force Watch and alerted, because it was right in her town. There hadn't been a vigilante here in months. She looked at him. "I know that body, anywhere. Doesn't matter if it's dark and completely covered up."

Henry got home and she smiled at him, "How was your run?"

"You were right. Definitely shouldn't have eaten that whole jar. I saw this woman getting attacked and I almost couldn't help her."e

"But, you did help her?"

"Of course! She was almost the victim of something especially heinous."

"How do you feel?"

"Tired. Gonna go spend some time with Showelette and go to bed. Why are you awake?"

"Got a ping on my V-Force Watch alert. Guess it was just you being in the right place at the right time."

He looked startled for a moment, but nodded his head. He'd not thought that the VWatch was sophisticated enough to catch every little thing.

So, the next time, he was more discreet. He hid in the shadows and dragged a robber into the dark to clobber him. The next time, even more careful, consulting the arm to get him in the perfect position to avoid the satellites and surveillance cameras. Once he committed to the safety of the community, he was in it.

Charlotte watched him suspiciously. He was coming home with bruises and trying to hide them, even though she had the skills to tend to his minor injuries. When she asked what was going on, he just said, "Free running can be a little rough sometimes." She didn't want to ask too many questions, since he obviously didn't want to open up and she certainly didn't want to make him feel like he had to lie. But she knew something was up.

She wasn't getting pings, and yet police records were showing criminals bring mysteriously caught or mysteriously trapped. She cross referenced the dates of those anomalies with Henry's injuries, checked the locations of his arm for the times and reviewed every camera she had access to. Nothing on camera, but he was certainly in those areas.

Henry came home one night, limping, "Oh my God, what happened?" She rushed over holding her belly.

"I'm fine, Baby. Don't panic. Got into a little fight." _And he'd lost and the culprit got away._

"Henry… why aren't you telling me what's happening with you?" She asked.

"I just did. I'm gonna go soak and patch myself up."

"I can…"

"I've got it, Char." He said it firmly and forced a smile. She nodded, threw her hands up and stormed off. "Char…" He sighed and leaned against the counter, exhausted and in pain, trying to catch his breath. He wouldn't stop, now. He couldn't. So.. he guessed he was gonna have to start making an effort of lying to her. He certainly couldn't tell her the truth!

She came home from work to see him reorganizing his work shed. "What are you up to?" She asked.

"Up to? I'm not "up to" anything, just making some space for my running gear. You've been up too much when I get home, and since I don't want to disturb you, I'm going to start going _after_ you're already peacefully sleeping and just have everything out here."

"Everything like what?" she wondered.

"Anything I might need," he said.

She raised an eyebrow and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not in the mood for this argument. Gwen went through 3 cells today alone and someone knocked over my vegan milkshake."

"There is no argument to be had!"

"You're darn skippy. Because I'm not having it." She stormed into the house and poured herself some juice.

.

A couple weeks passed until he came home into a dark room, as he had been for a bit now and the lights turned on. "Well, well, well, if it isn't dejavu."

"Char!" He held his chest and took his bandana off of his face to flash her a charming smile, "Babe, you startled me. Can't sleep? Need me to do something for you?"

She ignored the charm, "SOOOO, I'm not sure why you thought all of these years later when I'm more educated and way smarter than I was that I wouldn't figure this out the second time."

"Char."

"Shhh. I worked hard on this presentation…" She hijacked the command to his arm and showed him her pings and the GPS of the arm, the positions that he needed to be to hide from every possible camera, the coinciding dates, the queued plans to avoid the cameras, programmed into the arm… "Hen, why didn't you just tell me that you needed the Danger?"

"Because I left it behind and moved here _for you…_ and I didn't want you to think that I think that you aren't enough. We went through so much after my last fight. Even when I went back out to rescue you, you were visibly upset that I had gone into the field again. When we got married, we told each other that type of heroism was in our past. It's just that once you got pregnant and we started talking about Hammy's future, I began to doubt myself. What's he gonna think of me, having a dad struggling with his education career, no special life skills, and virtually no job, while his mom is a scientific superstar? I was out there and I saw a need for someone to stand up. I felt like it was perfect. Like it fit. Like I mattered again. Like I could have some pride. I.. wanted to feel super again, so that when I looked at our son's face for the first time, I felt like I deserve him and you!"

She let out a defeated sigh and leaned against the wall, strumming her bump, "You could have told me all of that. Henry, Hamilton would know that you're amazing, regardless. You have _plenty_ of skills. You build things. You're a wonderful artist. You made our freakin' rings. You have a green thumb and grow me vegetables so that I don't spend all that money on those ones from the fancy grocer, and you can do hair! But if you have to do this, if you need to be the hero that you're so comfortable being, I'd rather have my husband come home every night because he's got proper equipment and backup than to be contacted by the police because he's been injured or worst performing vigilantism." She reached into a sack that he just noticed that she was holding and began to take things out of it: new gumballs with a new suit, new Whiz Watch, new weapons, "and as for your tactical - I'm your huckleberry. Resigned immediately from helping the Man Cave so that I could focus on keeping you good to go. They have Schwoz AND Mimi and Jasper's gotten a lot better at his job with Piper there to get him into shape. I may possibly even cut back on some of my other time consuming pursuits." He gasped and she waved the gumball tub at him. "Let's see it."

Henry blew the bubble and he now had on a suit, similar to his old one, but that malleable body armor, like her Pagemaster field costume, and a similar mask, too. It was black and had hints and accents of platinum, titanium, and charcoal gray. He had a gauntlet for his left arm, and an open space on his right forearm for when he would need it to work. Plus, she had made some battle modifications for it. "I had notes in my Pagemaster computer of how you might want your new suit. Does it _feel good?"_ She asked, imitating him.

"Yeah.. but you don't say that."

"I'm not very good at it."

"Yeah, ya suck."

"I can't be perfect, Henry!"

"Maybe not, but just about. Char, I love you so much."

She smiled, "And you're about to love me just a little more… This is the prototype for an invention that I got approved by the president, and I'm trying to integrate into the FaceMask database. Currently, you'll wear it beneath your chin. It sticks on and has prongs. It feels like a couple of mosquito bites, then it's attached. If. Ever. It looks like there's no hope for you, you say Danger, S.O.S." The bead lit up in her hand and an alert sounded on her Whiz Watch, computer system, and phone. She deactivated it. "It will alert me of your situation and lock in on your location, while simultaneously interrupting FaceMask with an Amber Alert style message of who you are and where you are, and help will be on the way."

"How do you know that there'll be a hero nearby or that there'll be someone to help me?"

"Fifteen minutes ago, you were going out without so much as knee pads, now you're the champion of backup plans? IF there isn't anyone else available, _I'm_ coming."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… you're not a superhero and you're _super pregnant."_

"I'm also _super strong,_ and estimating that you won't have to use this, but that if you do, it'll be some time AFTER our son arrives. At any rate, if my best friend and husband is in trouble, Why wouldn't I at least try to help?" He smiled and gave her a hug. "One more thing. Let's take a walk outside." He followed her into the garage and looked at a motorcycle.

"WHAT?"

"You've been saying that you wanted one every since you started walking again, but you thought _I'd_ be against it, because you'd lost your legs for so long and all of that. So, I was getting you one for a special occasion, modified for safety and endurance, of course!"

"Of course," he said melting.

"And equipped with all the hero things that I could manage to get into it in these last few weeks."

"Where was this?"

"In here, cloaked," she smiled.

He removed his mask and looked down at her, "You're really okay with this? With me… going back into the life?"

"No. I'm not okay with it _at all._ It's dangerous work and I never wanted to see you suit up again. But, it means a lot to you. It always did. And if you hadn't gotten so badly injured, I estimated that this would have eventually happened, anyway." She tapped on his arm and projected something, "These are your forms. Mr. Danger is officially and legally recognized as a certified superhero with the rights and privileges to fight crime."

"I. Love. Your. Current. Job."

"Had nothing to do with it. You've got past experience and showed in the field evidence of still having the skills. They would have approved you whether or not I'm in super government work." She smiled, "But, it helped that I'm your number one reference." He collected her for a kiss and she hopped onto him and wrapped her legs around him. "I've had Henry Hart, Kid Danger, Henry Page, and now I want Mr. Danger. I want the D. As much of it as I can stand." She winked at him and he nodded, smiling joyously and carrying her back to the house.

.

Henry was watering the plants in the yard when several reporters came rushing into it. "Whoa, hey Dudes… If any of you step on my plants, I'm hosing EVERYONE. The good'll have to suffer for the bad!"

"Henry Page, is it true that you have become this town's newest superhero?"

He laughed and looked down at his chair, "I am literally in a wheelchair, Man. What, you think that I've been faking it everywhere I go, including my own yard, for like four years?" They looked around at each other and he answered his own question, "No. I haven't been. I've got permanent muscle damage in my legs and I can only walk with the assistance of various styles of braces."

"What about the satellite footage of Kid Danger circa over two years ago, on the site of the capture of the Chemist, Gaia?"

"Yeah, that was me, and I definitely had leg braces and a full battle suit to do all of the work for me. It was extremely difficult and I vowed to my wife that I was never doing that again."

"Your wife is…"

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare speak about my wife on a news broadcast, WHILE you're at my home. If anyone comes after me, the hellfire that would rain upon your heads from the superhuman government… Please, get off of my property. I'm not new hero. I wish I was. Because, if you're talking that Mr. Danger guy, honestly, he's my favorite newb."

"Do you know him?"

"MY BROTHER SAID GET OFF OF HIS PROPERTY!" Piper said, picking up a handful of gravel from the driveway as she got out of the van.

"Dear Lord, it's the abominable Piper Hart!"

"Last time the media circled her family, she bit a cameraman!" They began to run, but she still threw handfuls of gravel at them for good measure. She came over to Henry smiling, with both of her hands wrapped up, a gym bag on her shoulder and a pink glittery thumb swipe hiding her scar. That was usually how she dealt with that in everyday life.

"Piper. What brings you here?"

"I wanna see your new hero stuff, DUH! Charlotte wants Lady Danger to spin some things in Swellview. I need to know how your operation gets down."

"What."

"Mr. Danger is Lady Danger's older brother. No relation to Kid Danger. You've gotta be separated from those two, and you know the more elaborate a backstory, the more likely the public is willing to believe it. We need to get the media to not look at Henry Page AT ALL for this. How'd these snoops find out where you lived?"

"I can only guess someone spotted me and followed me home."

Piper touched her earpiece and said, "We need an underground ride in for Mr. Danger. Maybe fortified gates for the Charteau. I'm thinking electrical for the gates themselves and either a forcefield or cloaking around the property, MAYBE both. Hammy's gonna be here soon and if one of these reporters run up on my tiny nephew, I sweatergawd…"

"Are… Are you planning home renovations of my house, with my wife?" Henry asked.

"Henry, we know what we're doing. Chill out. What?" she listened for a moment, rolled her eyes then said, "You don't worry about a thing. There's a very nice greenhouse being set up in the back…" Piper handed Henry her gym bag and dug through it. "Honestly, I think you should buy out the houses on either side, move them from the ground, push them together with the Charteau in the front and Henry can build the attachments between them. That way, you have the necessary room to accommodate everything, PLUS, whenever you come onto the property, all of it is your property. Yeah, you could just buy the houses and leave them where they are, but what about the panic room that you'll need for Ham, when trouble comes to your doorstep? What about the lair that Henry will need now that you've let him back into the field?"

"Hey, she didn't _let_ me. I made a decision…"

"Nice big greenhouse, remember? Shhh," Piper said, still digging in the bag. "Found it!" She pulled out some contraption that Henry figured might have been something of Schwoz's, but it looked a little too glamorous to be his invention. "Record measurements," she said and set it down. The contraption went zipping around the grounds, flying, etc and returned after several minutes. "Okay. So… I think after it finishes, I press the red button to send it to your computer? Mimi didn't say it would automatically. She said a button, but I don't remember which is send and which is erase. Let me see…" She opened up the hologram on her Whiz Watch and Henry looked around. There was _just_ media here! What if some were still lurking? "Mimes, which of these buttons sends these measurements to Charlotte's computer?"

"The red one."

"That's what I thought. Thanks."

"Are you staying out there tonight?"

"I didn't plan on staying tonight. I'm just surveilling the grounds for weak spots, assessing things, taking measurements and whatever else to make sure it's safe for Hamilton in a couple of months. I'm going to be in college when he comes home. Gotta know everything is safe while Henry is out all night."

"Why are you talking like I'm not around? Or like I won't be around for my family?"

"Mimi, can send a hologram of a fancy greenhouse to Henry's arm? He keeps getting into my business."

Henry said, "This is my business, too. It's my family!" The hologram of the greenhouse came out of his forearm and he shut it down. "Piper, I'm not going to neglect my wife or baby for the hero life."

"Gotta go, Mimi. I have some truth bombs to drop on my brother."

"Good luck Henry," Mimi said and disconnected.

Piper clasped her hands together and said, "Henry, the fact that you waited all of this time, until Charlotte is pregnant to get an itch for the good old days is enough for me to conclude that your heart isn't fully invested into this family. Looking back, knowing who you were and what you did for Swellview, I can say from experience that you absolutely, positively, will neglect your family for the sake of your mission in this city. It's almost three times the size of Swellview. The backyard of Metroburg. You have supervillains of various power levels in this area. You're going to either burn out quickly and retreat from the cape, or _and I have strong reason to believe that this will be your sitch,_ the good of the many, meaning this larger, more dangerous city will have to ethically outweigh the good of the Page household of 3. Whenever things get real, because of your unmasking in Swellview or your current stunt, Charlotte will be holding down the fort with an infant, toddler, small child, in her arms, doing battle for their safety by herself. So, let me get back to work and you get back to what matters to you. Gardening." She snatched her gym bag and stormed towards the house. "Headed inside to check… Nope. Not apologizing to him. He's the worst for deciding to do this to you while you're pregnant and struggling." Henry sighed and went to turn off the water.

Piper had decided to remain in Swellview whenever their parents moved. They were pestering her and reminding her that she said she was coming too and that she needed to be with family, and all these other things until she said, "I'm Lady Danger," causing Jake to faint and Siren to nod her head and repeat, "I knew it," for several minutes. "Let's not talk about it again," Piper suggested and they never did. But, since she was going to go to Swellview Community College, she had a "reason" to be there, and since she was 18 now, she officially moved in with Jasper and got the Captain Man budget to foot their rent, reminding Ray, "If we don't make enough to live there on our own, we'll have to live in the Man Cave." He got the budget increase on that threat alone.

Henry rolled up behind Piper and she was sending that little device through the house to scan for holes, leaks, cracks, and so on.. He was frustrated by all of the accusations that she had just made, got up out of the chair and followed her around, "Put Charlotte on speaker."

She did so and Charlotte asked, "Hey, what's up, Hen?"

"I could've done this."

"I don't have a device like that in the Charteau. It's a Dr. Minyak classic that Mimi lent us. Piper's bringing it right back after I get all of the scans."

"Do I ever neglect you?"

"Henry, I never said nor suggested that. Piper says what she wants. You know how she is and she's right in front of you, so I'm unsure why you're taking out what she said on me?"

"It just. I just don't want you thinking that because I want to be the Danger again that I won't be the husband and father that I've promised you that I'll be."

"That thought never crossed my mind. Who do you think I'll expect to fill in all of this labor that the house apparently needs. Honestly, looking at these stats, I may do better to just find a different property."

"Our parents' neighborhood has nice houses," Piper said.

"I'm not trying to live that close to them. Maybe some space in between the triangular perimeter of the Hero League Headquarters, the storage lab, and our parents' condo."

"Should I stop the measurements?"

"No. I wanna compare the pricing between repairs and renovations to moving out. Henry. We'll talk more when I get home. I have a meeting about transporting Gwen to a newer, allegedly more equipped facility." She hung up and Piper laughed.

"Why are you laughing?"

"You didn't hear that tone? You're in deep dookie for trying to confront her like that." Piper swatted him on the back.

"Is that what you wanted?"

"No. I wanted you to feel like garbage for not AT LEAST waiting until after he's born and she's had a chance to mom for a bit. This is just icing on the cake."

"Why don't you have any faith in me?"

"Because I know you. You were absorbed by Kid Danger. Even in the early stages of your relationship, you chose the Danger as you call it OVER her, numerous times."

"She chose things over me too. School. Work. This town. I was the one who ultimately caved."

"Only, you didn't. Because she is pregnant every single day of her life for the next few months and you'll be full time running the streets _searching_ for things that could take you away from her."

"Plenty of heroes have families!"

"Not in their heyday, they don't!" The device flew back to her and she caught it and pushed the button. "I just feel like this is another one of your bonehead moves _after_ you promised Charlotte that your bonehead days were over. Hopefully, you don't die and leave Ham fatherless and Charlotte blaming herself for being the supportive wife."

.

The alarms went off in their house one night, and Charlotte got out of bed. Was Henry still out working? She ordered, softly, "Charteau Security, scan for problems."

"Multiple heat signatures. I have summoned Mr. Danger back home."

"None of the signatures are his?"

"No." She grabbed her bubblegum, in case she might have to fight, silently praying that she wouldn't in this condition, as she blew the bubble and covered her body, pregnant but still dope in the Pagemaster field suit. She used the night vision in her lens to see and then the heat vision to detect the persons in her home. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… One of them was different, though... and quickly approaching her. She rushed to try to hide but was grabbed by the bun and before she could move to protect herself, the assailant went flying into the wall. She was was pinned. "Gwen!" She said.

"Gaia," Gwen corrected and broke free from the hold to charge at Pagemaster again. She rushed right into the foot of someone who jumped in front of her and kicked Gwen through the walls.

"Nice going, Kicker!" a familiar female voice said.

"She was about to destro-touch the package!" Another woman's voice said.

Pagemaster turned and prepared herself for fighting, "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

"Heads up!" A voice she definitely knew said and shot fire from his mouth at an oncoming Gwen who screamed in agony and fell down. Then, he froze her. "It won't last, but it'll hold long enough for us to get her to that cell.

"Max!" Pagemaster said and rushed at him to attack.

The familiar female voice shouted, "No!" and fired lasers from her eyes at Pagemaster's feet. Nora.

Max held his hands up and said, "We come in peace."

"Activate lights," Pagemaster ordered. She was looking at Max, Nora, Billy and another woman that she recognized, even though they had never met.

Max introduced them, "Honeybunny, this is the famous Pagemaster. Pagemaster, you remember Lasergirl and Turbo Toes, and I'd like to introduce you to my wife.."

The woman stepped forward to shake Pagemaster's hand and introduced herself, "Shizkicker. They call me Kicker or Kicks for short."

"You're President Kickbutt's daughter, Simone."

She laughed, "Girl, I used to be, until she found out that I helped the V-Force set up Max's escape. She hasn't trusted anybody since then, except for you, I hear. All of my old inside contacts tell me that you're good to her. Thank you. She needs people on her teams. Heroes so often defect."

"Tell me about it," Pagemaster said eyeing Max.

"He's changed. He's different now. But.. My mother's pride won't let her pardon him! And she's not as competent as she used to be. We followed the transport, just in case something happen. Gaia destroyed everyone and came after you. We didn't know this was your place until Max noticed the set up of your living room."

Max announced, "We have to finish this mission, Honeybunny. Before she destroys her way through my ice coffin." He telepathically lifted the frozen body. "Good to see you, Charls. Congrats on that," he swirled a finger in the direction of her pregnant belly. Billy gave her a hug. Nora just threw her a peace sign. The Thundermans were leaving, but Kickbutt hung back for a moment.

"Hey. If you could talk to her, put in a good word. It's been years with no incidents, and I'd love if she met her twin grandkids. If anybody tracks us down, it would be you, not her. Just think it over, please? And… good luck on motherhood."

"You two have two kids AND you're on the run, AND you still fight crime."

"Well, we're damned good, and there's a lot of us. A team. A family."

"KICKER!" Nora called.

"Nice to meet you," Simone Kickbutt said and rushed out. Pagemaster sat on the couch for a few minutes before Mr. Danger came rushing in.

"Char!" He ran to her and inspected her, "Are you okay? Interface said that there were intruders here." He looked at the busted walls and his heartbeat uncontrollably. "Oh God, what happened?"

"Gwen attacked me and the Thunderman Outlaws saved me and took her away."

"WHAT? MAX was here, in OUR home?"

"Had his wife, sister and brother with him."

"Wife?"

"Yeah. You know President Kickbutt's estranged daughter that she's told me that I remind her of, a few times? Well.. Max married her, and they have twins."

"And a supervillain potential slave with a horrific power. I never should have left you alone. Piper was right."

"I… I don't think that they mean any harm. I honestly believed that they're doing the right thing. I think they should get a pardon from the president."

"They just saved your life. But one good deed…"

"They all have way more good deeds than they do bad ones, Henry." She stood up. "I think we should move, and I'm going to speak with the president about giving all of them a pardon. You can go back to work. I'm going back to bed." She went and laid down in her costume, very exhausted and drained. Henry followed her and laid down with her, wrapping his arms around her. "Are you in for the night?"

"I can't leave you alone right now? After what's happened? After what I got here too late to have prevented IF it would have been an evil plot against you… I can't… I won't be out there, trying to save the world and leaving my family to fend for themselves. I won't do that. The Danger means a lot to me, but you mean everything." She curled up into him and fell to sleep. She knew that he was just shaken up because enemies had gotten so close to her. She was even more shaken up by that. The difference was tomorrow, whenever she got up, she'd have to reset a lot of things in order to feel safe again, but within days, Mr. Danger was going to be back on the job. He couldn't help it. It was a part of him. She didn't blame him for it. She was just grateful that he was here right now, to comfort her after the scares of the night.


	28. Super President Kickbutt Decrees

_I feel like it's important for me to mention that at the end of the last chapter that was Charlotte's perception of how things are going to go just from her knowing how Henry can be. Also in case there was any confusion Charlotte calls Hamilton by gender-fluid language using they/them/their pronouns well Henry go ahead on and genders Hamilton as a boy. Hope that helped. I also want to apologize to a couple of groups: 1. Any persons who didn't watch the Thundermans and don't know all these crossover characters I'm jamming into this story arch. Trust, you didn't have to watch the show for them to fit where I'm putting them. 2. Any persons who DID watch the Thundermans and are like WTF, this isn't how they are! Please, just lemme do something here. Lol. Love y'all._

 **Super President Kickbutt Decrees**

Charlotte took a few days off of work, which meant she worked from home a few days. Whenever she'd reported to the president of the Hero League in the morning about the things that transpired, including sending her surveillance of the incident, from the system, the woman had mixed emotions. She hadn't seen her daughter in nearly 3 years, and it was refreshing to learn that she hadn't gone completely dark.

But whenever Charlotte suggested pardons, she turned cold. "They are all outlaws with varying superpowers of various threat levels. I already have the regular authorities breathing down my neck for all of this. There will be NO pardons for my daughter, nor the Thundermans."

"What about the rest of the V-Force?"

"All of them _decided_ to go with Max Thunderman and make a fool out of this administration. If I let it slide, the subpers will never let that go. They'll call for my removal and put someone in place that they think will be tough on supers, and that person may be worse than I am. That person might shoot to kill."

"I can't believe that you just used "subpers" and kept going, so casually."

"You know what I meant."

"Non-powered individuals can be shortened to "nonpows", same syllables, with zero percent of the slur."

"I sometimes forget that you weren't born this way. My apologies, Charlotte. No offense to your normal parents who did a wonderful job with a normal child."

Charlotte sighed. They could discuss Kickbutt's xenophobia at some less urgent time."My apologies, President Kickbutt, but isn't it inefficient to use all of these resources finding a group of supers who aren't committing crimes, and are also preventing a lot of crime?"

"We're not searching for them because of their _current_ lives. We're searching for them for what they have already done."

"Can they never be forgiven? Not even your daughter, who apparently has some twins, now?"

Now, the president's face became frozen and displeased. "She's had someone's babies?"

"Not _someone's_. Max's. He introduced her to me as his wife, and she told me that she would like you to meet your grandchildren. That's one of the main reasons I'm having this discussion with you. She saved my life and I wanted to at least make good on the solid that she asked me for."

Now, the woman's nostrils flared and she said, "I must end this call."

She didn't wait for Charlotte to sign off. Instead, she hung up and called Henry.

He looked at the phone, confused, but answered, "Yes?"

"This is Super President Evelyn Kickbutt. I am calling to offer Mr. Danger an assignment."

"I… This is he, but I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to accept…"

"Hear me out, please. My very sensible Chief Tactical Officer has spoken to me about issuing pardons to the Outlaw Thunderman Clan and their rouge V-Force members. She believes that they have earned redemption. Meanwhile, The Chemist, the _monster_ Gaia is still difficult to subdue and there are forces of darkness out there who wish to see her rise to power."

"Yeah… But see, my wife was attacked in our home last night and I wasn't there to protect her. So, I don't want any kind of assignments. My job is superhusband and superdaddy. But, thank you for the opportunity."

"You are the only superhero that I would trust with _this_ assignment. I want to form a team. You will be in charge and if it makes you feel better, your wife can be there, ensuring you're nearby to keep her safe."

"I'm… listening."

"I didn't want to tell her this, but I believe that we may need the help of Max Thunderman and his supporters to stop Gaia, once and for all."

"I'm… _angrily_ listening."

"If you two were to team up with each other, you might take her down. You'll have PageMaster and Lady Danger as your support and backup. I will send you at least one other trusted hero with invested interest in this.*

"The last thing I want to do is team up with Max."

"You'll be able to keep an eye on him and evaluate for me whether he and the others _deserve_ the pardons that she has asked me for. Should you accept, you will be one of the newest heroes to ever be given a task force of this magnitude. You could be a nationally renown superhero, Mr. Danger."

"Like… the greats?"

"Definitely bigger than where you've come from and bigger than where you are."

"And it's just this _one_ task?"

"Well, this one task is quite the doozie, Danger."

"I have to talk to Pagemaster about this. I can't make any more big decisions without her."

"I'll look forward to speaking with you again."

.

Henry was putting his wheelchair into the shed when Charlotte found him and looked around, "Henry, what ARE you doing?"

"Not risking you again. I'm just going to be a normal man who takes care of his family and cherishes his wife. That's enough. I can be super at that."

"What about the assignment from Madame Super President Kickbutt? She told me you said you'd speak to me before making a decision on it. Yet, here you are, deciding! Again? Without me."

"I'm deciding _on_ you. You could have been killed last night. Or worse. You could have been turned into a Gaia beast and Hammy could have been hurt, harmed or worse. I'm never risking it again! It's not happening. For this city. It's not happening... for this world."

"Wow." She nodded her head.

"I'm choosing you. Why do you sound upset? This is what you wanted. To never see me suit up again!"

"Yeah, it _was_ what I wanted _._ But, you'd already made the decision to do it and I jumped in with you, really worked hard to upgrade you to the kind of hero that the president of the motherloving Hero League, CALLS UP, personally, herself and grants the chance to lead one of the most ambitious task forces in our lifetime. And you just ghost her and weren't even gonna tell me? You just think that you can do whatever you want whenever you want, and that's my fault. I've given you far too much leeway at times when I should have shut you down. You're no longer injured, but seeing you in the wheelchair, I guess has been this constant reminder to me of what you'd been through. But, that's ending, Mr. Page. You need to explain to me why I should accept this decision of yours. I'd love to hear it."

"All I could imagine… whenever I was trying to rush home to you and the interface was alerting that you had been spotted by the intruders and that a fight was in progress... was the shoe being on the other foot. _You_ being in some hospital bed connected to wires. Hammy being in NICU for weeks, if I was lucky, but that he was probably gonna die and you might too. All because I went and got back out to it. Getting in the Danger _can't_ put you in danger. Charlotte, if I got you harmed, I would never recover. So, how can I make any other decision but to quit now, while I'm ahead? What would you have me do after a scare like that?"

"Be the hero that you swore to be." He was on the verge of crying. _Honestly, how could every decision he made be the wrong one?_ "Henry, you are the only person that she's even considering to do this job, and it'll be tough and that kind of responsibility is definitely scary. But, if it's my safety that you're worried about… I'm on Gaia's radar. She came here _to get_ me. So, whether or not you help us, I'm a target and I'd be safer with you taking this role."

He sniffled, "Are you sure about that?"

She held him and cupped his face, "Hen, I want those V-Force heroes pardoned. I want to stop Gaia/Gwen. And I want you to be happy. This is the easiest way to manage all of that at once, right now. Now, if after we make her history, you would rather be home with the baby and the flowers… I will support you, no matter what. I'd love it. But, I'm sorry. I need hero Hen, now."

"I'm scared of you being hurt," he whispered.

"I'm tougher than you think and I'm tactical. I'll probably be in the jet, cloaked most of the time."

"IN WHAT?"

"Danger Force will receive a jet for this mission."

He felt overwhelmed. She made a lot of sense, but now that he was convinced that this was probably safe for her, he realized how huge this was for him, for them… for everyone. "How do we work with Max?"

"I was willing to do it before, for your recovery."

"Yeah, and it nearly plummeted your career when Kickbutt thought you helped him, because he escaped on your watch. What if he double crosses us again?"

"I don't think that he will."

"Did you think that he would last time?"

"No. But, he didn't have these last time," she tapped on his arm and projected some satellite scans. It was two baby girls, about 1 year old, maybe 1 & a half, sitting on some woman's lap until Max and his two siblings quickly came and rushed away with them, narrowly escaping Hero League. "There's Simone Kickbutt, two baby girls that must be the twins that she mentioned and Max, Billy, and Nora practically shielding them on the way to their portal creator. Have you ever seen him look this terrified?" She blew up his face. "He was always overconfident, even with the worst ideas. Now, he's shook, while running from those heroes. His family is important to him. He won't risk the only possible way to let his daughters grow up without looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives, and I'm sure he wants to relieve his wife of that, as well."

"Okay. Okay. You need hero Hen, now. I'll do that. _For you._ "

"I'll send word to the president to contact you for briefing." She pressed her earpiece and said, "Get in that chair, before someone sees you."

"I thought I was in charge," he mumbled, while he obeyed.

"Of the task force. Now, chop chop."

"Yes, Love."

.

Captain Man was so proud of Henry's assignment. He would be jealous, but as Mimi reminded him, he didn't ever want that type of responsibility. He never would.

"I'm kinda freakin' out, Man. Charlotte sent out messages on her apps to try to contact the Rogue V-Force and so far, no response. That'll mean she'll feel guilty about we estimate at least 75 people, not counting the kids will be in hiding still. Everything makes her feel bad, Man. Hormones are wack. I can't wait until the kid is born."

"What if he comes while you're on this mission?" Captain Man asked.

"Dude. Why would you even put that into the universe? I'm already stressed out enough just trying to read this freakin' dossier. Her having a baby on the private super jet, with a bunch of ragtag heroes trying to thwart a monster? … That's actually one helluva origin saga."

"HELLUVA ORIGIN SAGA," Captain Man repeated, full of excitement. "I'm just gonna keep throwing it into the universe, and my godson can thank me when he's old enough to realize that his Uncle Captain Man did it for him."

"His mother would teach him to thank the Universe, and technically, even if you put it out there and it happens, isn't the Universe to thank?"

"The Universe will thank ME, for the great idea." They were quiet for a moment, then CM said, "Not only am I proud of you, Kid, Swellview would be proud if they knew it was you, and the world will be proud when you finally put that muffin demon into retirement."

"That means a lot to me. You've always been my favorite superhero. I'm proud that I get to call you my friend." Captain Man looked like he was tearing up, so he started making sounds and pretending the connection was bad. "I'm literally looking at you make the sounds with your mouth, Man."

"No you shkldwnfrkjlnfwkle aren't. The mnkasdnmkslf connection's too dmklnlkrnre bad…" He disconnected and Henry just laughed.

.

Super President Kickbutt sighed when it appeared that nobody was coming to the rendezvous from Max's camp. Maybe they liked being on the run, after all. A teenage girl appeared in the room and Lady Danger, Mr. Danger, and Pagemaster all prepped themselves to fight. Then, Pagemaster dropped her fists. "Chloe."

"Whomst?" The Dangers asked.

"Chloe Thunderman, reporting for duty," the girl announced and looked around, "Did they not show up?" She wondered.

"They have not," President Kickbutt said. "So, I guess the deal is off of the table…" Just then, a portal opened and Nora and Billy rushed out of it to hug their kid sister. Max and Simone came out more cautiously. Wise. Because Chloe teleported both of the siblings who touched her to the top of the jet and returned without them.

"They're fine," she said.

"I'll need them for briefing," the president said.

The girl rolled her eyes and vanished.

"I like her already," Lady Danger declared.

She came back with two fussing siblings and Simone whistled through her fingers to silence the two. Billy and Nora rushed to Simone and stood at attention in front of her, facing the president. She and Max were a little more relaxed and he told them, "She didn't send you to the North Pole, so, hooray." Simone was staring at her mother, wondering if she could hug her too, but the woman went directly to business.

"You're late," she said. "That is not to happen again…" and she went right into the terms and conditions of this entire arrangement.

She appreciated that they had acted admirably with collecting Gaia and submitting her to the facility, however, she did _not_ appreciate the fact that she had to try to make sense to the populace how the Most Wanted Villain managed to get the worst villain prisoner in his custody, THEN escape from her personnel at the facility that he brought the prisoner to! Max seemed a little bit amused.

She liked the fact that they were catching criminals and giving her the credit. She didn't like that they were on the run and giving her the slip.

It please her that crime had gone down since they were loose and not up. it didn't please her that they were still committing crime to survive instead of just hurting themselves over.

"Suffice it to say that I was rather conflicted when my chief tactical officer, Charlotte Page, suggested to me that it might be a good idea - that it might be beneficial to my administration, to even the world to give your entire group pardons for your past crimes. I didn't agree. when I can agree to is that with your kind powers and the powers of this administration, we may be able to come up with a way to stop the Chemist, also known as Gwen, also known as Gaia. Currently, she is still in the facility and has been for days. she hasn't arrested she has been awake and she has been working trying to corrode the place from the inside out. We have her in an adaptable cell, and nonstop since we put her in it, she's been adapting to tear it down, and angrily throwing a tantrum when it rebuilds itself with its own adaptation. We used her blood to try to make it. Her power makes her blood regenerate. So, basically, she's tearing it down and it builds back up because her power gives the strength to her blood."

"So, we need a cure for her condition, before she figures out a way to get out," Max said.

"It. Isn't. Your. Turn. Thunderman." He did a lip shutting gesture to himself and shut his mouth. Simone fought a grin, because she knew that her mom meant business, but she thought her hubby was totally adorable.

"Now, then. We need a cure for her condition, before she figures a way to get out, _but,_ we need to figure out a way to destroy her, as well… Just in case there is no cure to be found. We need to round up everyone that she has touched and created into a beast. Most of them are in our custody, but some are not and we have reason to believe that she can connect with them, like a hive mind. They may be sent to try to release her, if she's sending out mental energy in the short spaces that her cell is compromised. The whole situation is volatile and unfortunately, my two best agents have been off of the grid for 3 years…" Max almost said _Two and a half, but who's counting,_ but he'd shut his mouth already. "And 75 potential heroes are hidden because of one faulty one. Charlotte Page was right about that. Not everybody deserves to be on the run. But, since they all took that risk for you, Maximus, what you are charged with is taking a risk for them. You will work, alongside Kickbutt, Team Danger, and the Thundermans to stop Gwen-Gaia, the Chemist. You will report to Mr. Danger. Lady Danger is second in command on the field. Pagemaster is in charge of tactical, but also reporting to Mr. Danger. ThunderBaby is here to ensure the interests of the Thunderman family and the Kickbutt administration are not compromised."

"Mom and Dad sent you?" Billy asked.

Chloe rolled her eyes and told him, " _My_ mom and dad sent me. None of you are legally Thundermans, but if you are willing to actually help, they will reinstate you to the family." She didn't look at any of them when she said it.

"And I thought mine was harsh," Simone mumbled. The president still hadn't even glanced in her direction. She thought that would get something out of her, but no.

Chloe went on to say, "You may refer to me as Special Agent or Popout. Don't say Special Agent Popout. Just sounds weird. Friends can call me Pop. I don't want a single former Thunderman to presume that we are friends. So far, of this crowd, I only like that one," She pointed at Lady Danger, whispered, "I'd love your autograph when you have a moment." Lady Danger gave her a thumbs up, "Thank you you're my favorite," and she continued her speech, "If the rules and regulations of the Hero League are followed, we will have no problems. If I see violations, I am ordered to report them. If any Thunderman disobeys any order from Mr. Danger, it will be noted for my daily reports to _my_ parents. Because their former son set the wheels in motion for this catastrophe, this abomination we call Gaia, they are personally invested in this mission and the president has been gracious enough to allow me to be here to observe and report. Thank you for the floor."

"What a determined and hardcore badass," Lady Danger said and Chloe fought the urge to squee, but everyone saw that she wanted to.

"Mr. Danger, is there anything else you need of me before I take my leave?" The President asked.

"Ummm…"

Pagemaster interjected, "Anything that I _can't_ answer."

"Oh, no. Probably not," he said.

"Very well. Thank you for your service and good luck." She began to walk out and Simone scoffed at the fact that she hadn't ONCE so much as gave her a tender look. "Come with me, please," President Kickbutt said to her, curtly, not even breaking her stride. Simone quickly went to follow, but Max caught her hand. She looked at him, they clasped hands together, pressed their heads together, and whispered 'I love yous.' "She's coming right back, Boy." The woman said, rolling her eyes. Simone rushed to catch up, then fell in step and tried to play it cool, since it was clear she would have to earn her mother back. "You betrayed and disgraced me. All of the years I spent making sure that you weren't a product of evil, or worst - nepotism, and you just decided that you would throw away the training, the work and accomplishments over some man. I was disappointed that of all the things you could have cast me aside for, what you chose was a backsliding hero with the propensity to literally crush a man. You deliberately disobeyed me and you casually stabbed me in the back."

"That's not what happened. I told you that you should attempt to let him earn his freedom. That you should send him back into the field, under my command, and let him prove that he had changed and still had the skills to be a hero. You refused, flat out and accused me of being… what did you call me? It was very insulting. You remember."

"I said you were cockthirsty. And since I'm discovering that you have children, I wasn't far off."

"I had worked with him before! I had been the person closest to him after Phoebe was killed, working with him in Z-Force and trying to help him keep it together. Whenever he resigned and wasn't there, that was when he lost it. He didn't have anybody there to care about him. And whenever I visited him while he was locked up, it was obvious that he wasn't some villain who had purposefully harmed a fellow hero. All you had to do was give me the chance to show you that he had changed, and I wouldn't have been so willing to help his siblings free him. Not because I wanted him, but because the punishment didn't fit the crime!"

"The crime literally was attempted murder. A sidekick was destroyed by his tantrum. A boy, five years younger than him and far less powerful than him was purposefully attacked by him. Now, _maybe_ his intent wasn't to shatter that poor boy's bones and put him in a lengthy coma, but if you get into the driver's seat drunk and set a baby in the passenger's seat, whatever happens is your fault."

"Fine. It was his fault. I still have no regrets for what I did."

"I never said that you should."

"Then, why else pull me aside to disparage me?"

"I was simply telling you how your actions made me feel. I was actually going to apologize for not listening to you in the first place, when ultimately, I decided to go along with the plan you presented to me 3 years ago! YOU turned this into a fuss off."

"Why did you pull me aside, then? If not to make me feel bad?"

"Because I wanted to know if you had any images of _them_ that I could see, since we haven't had the chance to meet!" She hissed back.

Now, Simone realized. "Oh. Oh, yes. Of course." She unzipped the crossway zipper of her costume and pulled out what appeared to be a stack of cloth swatches. "One of the refugees has a power that allows her to capture any image onto fabric. She thought it was kind of stupid until everyone began to ask her for patches of loved ones that they no longer could be with."

Kickbutt flipped through the swatches of two beautiful baby girls and sniffled a little bit. "You should have reached out to me."

"I couldn't risk it. I know how much of a stickler for the rules that you are. I couldn't endanger the others, but I want you to meet them, when all of this is settled. I tell them about you all the time. I talk about you, a lot."

Simone flipped through the swatches and collected a couple of her mother, and the two of them together, and put back into her uniform. She closed her hand around the twins' cloths in her mom's hand, "Keep these. I have more at home."

The woman cleared her throat and stashed the cloths into her satchel. "As you were," she said and turned and walked off.

Simone came back and Max, Billy and Nora looked at her. "All's well," she said.

Lady Danger posed the question, "Hey, you don't even have masks. We all know who you are and I'm 1005% certain that I'm the only person in the room that everybody doesn't know who she is, right?"

Chloe said, "I don't know any of you."

While Simone said, "I know Pagemaster, should I know the Dangers too?"

Max said, "I think I _do_ know you, but I'm not positive."

Lady Danger looked at Mr. Danger and he said. "We're good with the mask thing, Lady Danger. It's how this goes." She shrugged her shoulders, but was certain that there was no way that they would be working on this project and not spilling clues as to who they all were. In her opinion, they might as well got it out of the way. Then again, they probably wanted to keep Max and co. in the dark as much as possible, if it wasn't directly related to what they needed to do. "So, now that we all know the expectation, I do have questions, Pagemaster?"

"Yes, Mr. Danger?" She asked.

"Where on earth do we even start?"

.

The jet had 3 rooms with one bed, one with two and one with 3. Henry wanted Charlotte and him to share a room, but she reminded him that nobody knew that he was Mr. Danger, but a few knew that she was Charlotte. "That'll give you away. I say that I get in the two bedder with Lady Danger and you have a solo, along with Chloe, and the Thunderman couple. Then, Billy and Nora can just have the 3 beds room and it'll be a spare bed."

"OR, Me, you and her take the 3 beds room, the twins take the two-fer and then Chloe can still have a single, and Max and his wife too. That'll leave a free single bed room."

"Fine. I don't care, as long as it keeps your identity covered."

"I don't want to share a room with you. What if I want to tell Pagemaster some juicy stories?" Lady Danger said.

"Then just pull her into the empty room and tell her. I don't care."

Chloe cleared her throat and said, "Excuse me, I don't mean to eavesdrop, but I did, and I'd like to offer some insight that might have been overlooked." They turned to her as she approached. "While sleeping time is the one time we'll have for rest, I don't think that the president would feel comfortable with leaving these fugitives unattended while you sleep. They either have a super who can detect their locations and be available to portal them out, or one or more of them has a device that somehow opens transportation portals. At any rate, I believe the sleep spaces should be monitored. Therefore, I suggest that Mr. Danger and Max bunk in the two beds room, Lady Danger in the threes with the the twins, and I'll take a sleeping bag and crash in a single with Simone. It still leaves a free bedroom, but doesn't leave any of the fugitives free to move around while everyone is sleeping."

"That leaves you without a bed and puts me in a room with Max. So, no, thank you," Mr. Danger said.

"I will notate that you refused my advice. Thank you for listening," she said.

"What if we slept in shifts?" Lady Danger asked her. "I literally am vomiting about the thought of sleeping in the room with the broke man's wonder twins."

"We aren't twins!" Nora said.

"Yeah, I couldn't care less," Lady Danger told her and resumed talking to Chloe, who smiled a little at her dismissal of Nora. "So, that way, I don't have to do that. You and me can bunk in the two bed room. The couple can still sleep in their room, but during a shift when Mr. Danger and me are awake and can make sure they don't do anything messed up. Pagemaster obviously needs her own room and can sleep when she wants, as long as she isn't working, because we aren't putting her on surveillance. Mr. Danger can cover when you and me sleep, and we can cover when he sleeps."

Chloe nodded, "This may work. We'll give them bedtimes and whenever they are in their rooms, we can use the cameras."

"Happy porn hunting. Those two do it like rabbits!" Nora said, pointing to her oldest brother and his wife.

"I'm not ashamed of my body," she said.

"I've had my porn watched by outsiders before," Max added.

Mr. Danger nodded, "That settles it. Popout, can you make the sleep schedules?" She nodded once. He rubbed his hands together. "Awesome. First order of business, done!"

"What is the situation with the lab schedule?" Max wondered.

Pagemaster replied, "You and I will be in the lab for the majority of the time. Whenever there are missions to pick up the Gwen beasts, I'll operate from the lab, with Chloe nearby, keeping an eye on you."

Billy asked, "Do we not fight together?"

Max said, "They want me focused on the science portion, I think."

Billy said, "I'll have Kicker's back for you, then."

Simone said, "I'll… be fine." But, truthfully, she hadn't fought without Max in a long time. He often had to telekinetically help her out. She saw in his face that he was worried about this, as well. "But, his power is definitely an asset that you may need on those missions."

"If it seems like we do, we'll get him there," Pagemaster told her. Simone nodded and Pagemaster approached her and took her hands, "Look, we are all in this together. It's very important to me that your children see you again. Every plan that I draw up will be what is safest and best for everyone." She nodded and squeezed her hands.

"That was nice of you, Charls," Max said. She threw him a look and Chloe gasped.

"Charls? Pagemaster is CHARLOTTE PAGE OMG WHY DIDN'T I GUESS THAT? You're both pregnant! You're…" she covered her mouth with a hand and then pointed towards Max, "How long has he known about this?"

"Only found out when we stumbled into her home to capture Gwen," he said.

Chloe wondered, "And you felt safe enough to come along? Why would you do that? What if he has an episode over you? This feels like an unsafe compromise of this mission!"

"I have a gorgeous wife. I think that I can hold it together, Chloe."

"Shut up. Your wife is just a stand-in and you know it. That woman had a crush on you for years and you didn't notice her until you had life on the run status options. Let's not do this, Maximus…"

He stood towering over her and she looked alarmed by it for a moment, just shocked, really. "Don't disrespect her, ever again. I understand that you're pissed at us for hurting the family name, but you don't get to speak about her like that after _everything_ she's done for me. You don't get to question my love, and you certainly don't get to throw out accusations to try to shame her in front of these other people. Don't _test_ me, Thunderbaby."

Lady Danger gave him a forceful shove and shouted, "Back it up! You're her brother!"

Max looked like he realized something, and he laughed and covered his mouth. "I know where I recognize your voice from. I didn't know until you yelled "brother..." I met you. The night that my memories went on vacation…"

Now, Mr. Danger stepped in front of him and said, through his teeth, "Stand. Down."

Max nodded and backed away. "I'm here to comply." He smiled at Lady Danger over Mr. Danger's shoulder, "So, if you're you, then I guess that means that he's _him."_

Lady Danger shoved her brother aside and punched Max right in his face. Simone jumped up from her seat, ready to pounce on her but Max gently pulled her behind himself and smirked, "No, Honeybunny. She owed me one."

Chloe took a deep breath and checked Lady Danger's hand, "Are you alright?"

"I will be if I can punch him in the face again."

"He has that effect on more people than you know. Does _every one of you_ have history with him?" She wondered.

Lady Danger pulled her hand gently away. It was fine. "We don't have history. I just met him a couple of times. He's nothing, if we're being honest. Nothing but a destructive ruiner who doesn't deserve anyone's grace. But. whatever. I'm just here to back my brother up." She walked right by Max and Simone and looked them both up and down, daring them to lay a hand on her so she could both fight them AND get their stupid little deal revoked. She strutted to her room and said, "Call me when I'm needed."

Simone was fuming, but Max said no, and she was following his lead. She didn't know who that little miss thing was, but she was already on her list. "Can everyone please retire to your rooms until I come with assignments. Pagemaster, Max, if I can hold you back, please?" Mr. Danger said.

When everyone was gone, Pagemaster pulled up the two way mirror shield and snatched off her mask. "That went horribly."

"Because of his rabid little sister," Max said.

"She wouldn't have punched you if you hadn't first jumped all over your sister for no good reason."

"I was just talking to her about her disrespectful mouth, but thank you for confirming it."

"Everybody knows Lady Danger and Mr. Danger are siblings. There's whole comic books about it!" He said.

"Yeah, but I guess you didn't know that the night I remembered her from, that I was referring to right before she socked me, was the night she wasn't Lady Danger. She was Henry Hart's kid sister and she punched her hand through a window to attack me, wondering what I'd done to her brother. Same shout. Same word."

Mr. Danger folded his arms, "So? That doesn't mean that Lady Danger is Piper. That just means that you've had two guys' sister punch at you."

"You know Henry Hart's sister by her first name?" Max asked, putting his hands on his hips now. The others had returned and were looking towards them, but all they could see was their own reflections, and they couldn't hear this conversation.

"Eh… eh… everybody knows who Piper Hart is! She was Kid Danger's biggest fan and she became Internet famous for her attacks on the media after he unmasked…" Max used his telekinesis to remove Mr. Danger's mask and Henry fumed. Max smiled slightly and handed it over to him. "That doesn't prove anything," Henry said, in a low voice.

Now, Charlotte stepped in, "Max. You need to keep this secret. It's part of your assignment."

"What are your intentions for me?" he asked. "Am I here for you to string along, then at the end of my work, you tell the president that there's no way I deserve a pardon? No way that my wife does? My brother and my sister?"

"No!" Charlotte said. "I'm the one who asked her in the first place. The reason that she chose Henry was because she wanted somebody who wasn't gonna be soft on you. But, Henry's not some dishonest schemer who would go back on his word."

"Didn't he break his oath of silence when he unmasked?"

"That was different. He was psychologically traumatized from a physical attack, _by you._ He could have easily told Kickbutt no and let you live in the breeze, raising your kids on stolen goods and missed dreams. You let a 14 year old girl make you jeopardize that, then maybe you _aren't_ ready to return to civilization. But, if you tell my husbands identity to anybody, I'll break your bones, with my bare goddamned hands. You got it?"

"I wasn't going to tell on him. But, I need to know if I'm putting my family in danger for something that I may never get."

"I'm putting MY family in danger!" Henry snapped. "My wife was attacked in our house, and the next thing I knew, I'm on a jet with dangerous outlaws and her, with Hamilton in the womb, trying to stop a terrifying muffin making monster that YOU created. Everything bad for us has been regularly YOU. I hate you, to be honest. I'm only here because Char thinks it's best and she's smarter than me. If I had my way, you'd rot. I don't care how cute your babies are." Max smirked and nodded his head, "Good to know. Lower this, please?" he pointed to the forcefield. Danger and Pagemaster put their masks back on and she did so.

The others watched their reflections become the main room of the jet again and Max strom through. Simone followed him and Chloe went back to Pagemaster, "Is all well?" She threw her hands in the air, unsure. "Should I suggest to the president that we abort mission?"

"Hey, little girl - I'm in charge," Mr. Danger told her. "He'll stay in line."

"How can you be so sure?"

"He feels guilty. He wants to make things right. I saw it in his eyes. Now, I asked everybody to retire to their rooms until I had a plan. Go! Get some rest. Pagemaster and I will let everyone know the next step, as soon as we have it."

Whenever the others were gone, she hugged him. "I'm proud of you. You did well."

"Considering."

"Yeah. Do you know how many people would be able to look at the person who did what he did to you, be so calm and still work with him, because that's what's best? Mr. Danger, you are my hero. I'm your biggest fan, and you're gonna be one of the greats." she let go of him and said, "I'm sending all of my current plans to your arm, then I'm gonna go wash up."

"I'll look over them. I'm on sleepwatch until Chloe makes that schedule for me." He touched her belly and said, "Good night, Hammy. Hope you're proud of me, too."


	29. Enter the Danger Force

_**I meant to also say before in author's notes:**_ _The time in the story right now is about 6-7 months into the pregnancy, and they found out about the pregnancy two years after they got engaged. So, right now in the story, Henry is 24, nearing 25. The Max attack was about 4 years ago. He was in the coma a year, recovery for almost another year, they got engaged, I jumped passed the wedding that happened between recovery and this pregnancy, just because I've written so many weddings lately elsewhere and don't even really know how I envision their wedding, to be honest, so a brief description is the most I could manage. Also, whenever conversations and content seem to be a lil' "woke," it's because literally every conversation that I have that's unrelated to fandoms and fanfare are social justice and socially conscious content. It's always gonna come out in my work, even if the characters aren't historically as deep._

 **Enter the Danger Force**

Henry always knew he'd be back in a hero suit. He wasn't lying or deceitful about how he came back to it, and Charlotte realized that. Even though he lied to protect the secret once he actually discovered that he hadn't kicked the habit, she was gracious about it. She's smart, and honestly probably knew before he did that he'd cave. See, no matter how people behaved, Charlotte frequently saw them as computers - their minds at least. They could always download new things, but their original programming would always be a part of them. Even if you updated the systems and applied new functions. You're bound to run into some glitches every now and then, if you intend to keep working with the same device. SO, while the timing of his return to the Danger wasn't her favorite and she would have rathered it never actually happened, she knew that it would and when it did, she understood.

Even if she hadn't reminded him that he had to stick it out. Even if it was his decision alone to take on this task force - He would have eventually returned to the fight. She was certain of that much and married him _with_ that certainty in place. She'd been very ambitious herself, at times, and would simply want Henry to follow her lead when it came to her personal decisions, and it wasn't like she didn't still have secrets, too. She had to.

Her work for the Hero League required deep, frequent levels of secrecy, to the point that sometimes, she wasn't even sure if she had shared casual information with Henry, too concerned that classified info might find it's way into their pillow talk. So, she didn't get as mad at Henry for deceiving her when he became a vigilante, as she would have felt justified to do if it weren't for the delicate nature of her own work. She still hated that this was the situation Hamilton might be coming into. She'd estimated Hamilton would be at least a year, four max, before Henry just couldn't fight the hero urges inside of him anymore and risked their family. But, things happened sooner than she thought, throwing off her plans, and further stressing out her body. Hamilton let her know how displeased he was about it all. This was a very goals oriented woman who had gotten awards for her planning skills. Going off schedule shook her up a bit, but as soon as she realized, she redirected her goals, her family vision board, and her role in Henry's work.

She finished creating the protective hairstyles bubblegum in her jet room right before she heard a knock on her door. She sighed and went to the screen. _Simone._ She opened the door and smiled, "Hi. How can I help you?"

"I wanted to apologize for the whole scene earlier. If _I_ had stood up and calmed Maxi down, the situation wouldn't have escalated that way."

"If Max hadn't called me by my name, there would have been no situation, so I don't blame you." Simone nodded and looked at the ground. "Is there something else that might be bothering you?"

Simone looked up and her eyes were damp, "My girls are small, and up until now, we've always been together. There's never been a time when I would be gone for too long. If a mission took a while, I stayed behind and guarded the base. Listening to Maxi tell it, this assignment could take years." A tear fell. "And, I'm worried that I can't do it. I'm worried that I'll leave to see them and ruin this deal for everyone. But, if I stay and I do my part, they grow up without me. They forget about me. I find them when I'm done and they're calling one of my old friends "Mom," and I… really am feeling the weight of what my mom must've felt after she took care of me and I took off. Do… We have access to task counselor, here? Every team that I've ever worked on, I requested that a counsellor be involved."

Charlotte bit her lip, "Right now, the closest thing I have is Lady Danger." Simone groaned. "She's rough around the edges, but she tells it like it is and has actually proven quite helpful in a lot of situations." Charlotte held back the fact that she was enrolled in college as a Psychology and Sociology double major with the aspirations to be a world famous life coach with her own tough love psychology show. Because, duh - that'd be a dead giveaway that she's Internet personality Piper Hart, _Kid Danger's Only Sis._

Simone shook her head and snarled, "I'm not telling that uncivilized subper anything."

"Listen, we don't use slurs against nonpows on this jet," Charlotte quickly said.

Simone wiped her eyes and chuckled, "That's considered a slur, now? I really have been out of the loop."

"It should have always been considered a slur, but I don't think that nonpows realized it was out there until after my apps launched, connecting regular humans and superpowered ones on a wider scale. It's a slur, because it pushes the idea that non-powered people are sub-human. Sub-persons to your super person identities."

"No. You're wrong. It's always been that we have super powers and they don't, so we threw in the "b" as a play on the word super. Subper. It's specifically that they don't have powers, not that they're less human."

"Well, whatever. The word has been high-jacked by superpowered supremacist factions and is meant to denigrate normal humans for not being supers."

Simone scoffed, "See, this is part of the disconnect, too! _You_ equate not having superpowers with being a _normal_ human. Having superpowers, though it makes us better, _actually_ has been a disadvantage in this world for a very long time. We've always been expected to hide it from the normal people so that they don't use it against us all and harm us for being different. So, how could any word that we use on them even _begin_ to pack the weight of a slur, when _subpers_ are the ones who control everything and the reason that supers have to live in the shadows?"

Charlotte folded her arms and nodded, "There are definitely some excellent points there. However, as I stated, if the word was a simple description in the past, it does carry the weight of a slur, now. And the reason it does is because of what you said - Supers _are_ (more powerful, not necessarily better) than nonpows. If you'd wanted to, you, Max and your 70 fugitives.."

"Refugees,"

"Could have taken over the world and brought every system crashing down. I appreciate and respect that you didn't, and that's one of the reasons I know that we aren't making a mistake in trusting you with this mission. But, if we're going to do it together, we all have to get along, at least. I just don't see how we can do that when you have non-powered human hate inside of you."

Simone clasped her hands together and pointed them towards Charlotte as she responded, "If you honestly believe that they don't oppress us, I suggest you reexamine the fact that Lady Danger put her hands on my husband _twice_ today, antagonized the both of us on her way out and went to watch a comedy series that she laughed extremely loud about for hours. Why? Because she knows that she has more control over this entire situation. We have things to lose, despite the fact that we've accumulated no possessions. We have a safe place, dozens of loved ones and family, our own children that we stand to never see again in the event that we do something, even as reasonable and human as standing up for ourselves. Why does she get to punch Max in the face and receive _no_ disciplinary action? Because he's a villain? Because he's done bad things? I'll have you know that when Max exercised that same ideology, he was charged with twelve counts of abuse of power and inhumane conditions. She doesn't even get a write up? Because her brother is in charge? Or, is it because he has powers and she doesn't? If she were a super and she assaulted a teammate, or even a prisoner, since that's more accurate to what we are here, she would have at least been reprimanded, and whether or not her attack used her power, she would have been deemed more dangerous just for having one. And you know it. Thanks for the talk though. Got a lot off of my chest."

Charlotte sighed and said, "I'll see about getting a counsellor tomorrow." Simone nodded, but Charlotte could see that she was more aggravated than she was whenever she came.

.

The jet was outside of the facility that Gaia was held inside of, a place far out and away from a lot of civilization, with nothing around it for miles and miles. Outside of the jet, the task force was lined up, suited, booted, and ready for their first orders. Lady Danger and Pagemaster stood front and center, Billy, Nora and Chloe were on one side of Lady Danger, and Simone and Max were on the other side of Pagemaster (which technically put Lady Danger right in the middle of the team that her brother was facing and addressing).

"Good morning. I hope that some of you had a chance to sleep and I hope that all of us had the chance to sleep off everything that happened yesterday after briefing… Because none of that is happening again," Mr. Danger announced, walking down the line to look at everyone as he talked. "We don't have to care about each other, or even like each other, but we will have to respect each other, if we're going to be a team. So, I would like to first of all apologize on behalf of Lady Danger's violent actions yesterday."

"My what?" she asked, turning her head quickly to face him.

"It's not your turn to speak." He knew that she would be fuming. That punch was definitely in his name, but it was also not a good look for him as a leader to let it pass and as Charlotte pointed out in her notes to him, _was_ an abuse of power, on Lady's part. She _did_ know that he wouldn't challenge her and she _did_ know that they _couldn't_ challenge her. So, whether or not Max deserved it (and Henry believed he deserved every punch in the face any fist could give him), as the leader of this mission, he couldn't allow it. "Intolerance will not be… tolerated…" He looked at Pagemaster and she gave him two thumbs up. It was fine. She could imagine the confused squint on his face when he'd said it and that made her almost chuckle. "We will not react to each other with violence. We will not antagonize each other with words from the hurt parts of our feelings." He pointed at Chloe and said, "No disrespecting a man's wife right to his face. I have a wife, and I understand how protective a man can be over his wife."

"He was all up in the kid's face like he was gonna strike her, and after his crimes against heroism, I had to get some distance between them for her protection!" Lady Danger fussed.

"Please ask for permission to comment, when I'm talking and I'll hear you out when it works for me," he said.

"I punched him because he was _taunting me,_ and YOU of all people should have seen that! And now you put me on blast in front of these people instead of letting me know…"

He stood in front of her and said gently, "Lady Danger, if you speak out of turn again, I'll have to create _another_ incident report for your file. It doesn't bring me any pleasure to have to check you for attacking other members of my team or to have to put that in my sister's file." For once, _he had_ the upper hand with her and it felt a little good. She fumed, her fists shaking as she stared ahead, determined not to pounce on him and punch his face off. He didn't _owe_ her any special privileges and he wasn't going to enter this stage of his career with that type of credit against him.

"Now, yesterday might have been de-escalated in a number of ways. One suggestion was his wife might have calmed him down, and while that would have worked, ultimately, that situation was on me, as the head of this task force. I should have spoken up sooner. I should have let Popout know that we will not be forming cliques or purposefully insulting the Rogue V-Force members. I should have said _from the start,_ that I expect all of us to behave as heroes, to be admirable and dutiful for the mission. I apologize for that much. Now, I'd like to remind everyone else that Popout is literally a child, and perhaps the rest of us who are all adults and my sister, who is sort of an adult…" She stomped her foot, but kept silent, "We oughtta all be able to take her hormonal little outbursts with a grain of salt. _Even_ in the event that it's directed towards our wives."

"Permission to comment," Max said.

"Shut up, Dude. I'm in the middle of something here." He shook his head and Max silently chuckled a little, raising some interest from his crew. "What I'm saying is that we are all adults, except for Popout, and we're gonna act like it and do the job that we were assigned. If I have to do team building exercises and morale motivators in our down time, I will do it! So, if you don't want to have to spend any more time than you absolutely have to together, while working with each other - I suggest everybody learns to suck it up, whatever our problems with each other are, and just do the job." He looked at Lady Danger and said, "Even if I love you, I'm not playing favorites. This is the most serious thing I've ever done. I need all of you to have my back, and I need all of you to have each others' backs, because I'm tryin' to have everybody's back." Lady Danger had tears in her eyes. They looked angry. She was definitely feeling betrayed by him again. But, she had to learn that while she is often right and often justified, she couldn't just do whatever she wanted, especially if it meant the downfall of a mission or the mistrust of a team. Chloe touched her on the shoulder to check on her and she calmed down a little, knowing that the kid was watching her and that she looked up to her.

Piper cared more than she let on (more than she used to) and the people in her life were important to her. Charlotte was the most important, because over the last few years, she'd been the person who she had a personal and business connection to. Jasper was next in line, simply because they had been together so much and gotten so close in their adult life while Henry was gone. The two of them were vastly different types of friends. Most people, Charlotte included let Piper go her own way and trusted her to do it. Jasper challenged her more, but he always had and that was their dynamic and something that they evolved through. But, Henry… She had been trying to give him the "loving sister" version of herself now for four years and he went from douchebag phase to douchebag phase _insisting_ on embarrassing her! She was quite sick ot it.

Lady Danger stormed off in the middle of his speaking and he shouted, "I didn't dismiss you!"

She didn't stop, though. He looked at Pagemaster, "Should I go get her, or finish up here?"

"You should finish up here and give her disciplinary consequences on your time," she suggested. He nodded, but Popout popped out and he presumed to go see about her…

He sighed, but she returned with Lady Danger and reported, "The President would not want any members of the team to miss the task force leaders' briefing and would demand that all members of the team either listen up or hit the road, permanently." She looked at Lady Danger and whispered, "It would be really bad for you if you let your personal feelings get in the way of what can be one of the best business opportunities for a young heroine and the inspiration for a whole new generation of girls. Please." Lady Danger nodded once, folded her arms and fell back in line.

Mr. Danger finished with, "The enemy is in that building, and her minions are all on one accord with her. We barely stand a chance united. We gotta get our act together if we're gonna beat her." He pointed to Max, "You wanted to say something earlier?"

Max got out of line to face the others, "Everything that's happening and that has gone wrong is admittedly my fault. When I went dark a while back, I had a friend nearby, insisting that I seek help and providing what little support I allowed at the time. I didn't want the help. I didn't think that I needed it. I pushed her away and avoided her, and I latched on to someone who wasn't trying to help me and wasn't reaching out to me or trying to better me. I wanted to be attached to somebody, but I didn't want them to look too hard into me and see what I was, what I was becoming. I did awful things to villains and I weaponized vigilantes. I destroyed a hero that had the potential to become one of the greats. I take full responsibility for all of those things and that is why I am here. I apologize to everyone here that I have personally hurt by my actions, directly or indirectly. I apologize to my wife for not getting the help that I needed when she initially told me, as my partner in T-Force that I needed it. I apologize that I blew up on you and thought you just wanted to lead by yourself and especially because I accused you of being glad that Phoebe was gone so that you could take her place. I know that I've apologized for it before, but every time I think about it, I cringe. I apologize to Pagemaster, for the years of your life that I painted darkness across. I apologize to the Dangers. You know why and I do too. I don't blame either of you for your feelings. I'm hoping that this mission not only grants me a pardon but proves to you that I'm sorry." He took a deep breath and turned to his baby sister, "I'm sorry for what I did to our family. It was hard for me being there even when there were all of the rest of you for them to focus on too. I know it must have been hell to be alone with them after all of this."

"They buried one child, then watched another drag two more into the pit with him. They took away the bunnies. Said they never should have let you take Dr. Colosso in. They got rid of him and Balfour. They sold nearly every painting and photograph with any of you in them! You all _left me,_ then they erased you!" She cried. The Thunderman siblings rushed to try to hug and comfort her and Lady Danger stepped aside to give them the room to do so.

Mr. Danger asked her quietly as they allotted the family their heartfelt reunion, "Do you wanna hug it out?"

"You wanna bite me?" she asked back.

"You can't always get what you want."

"I _never_ can, from you."

"What is it that you want?"

"Thought I made that clear before. A little support would be nice, maybe some respect. But, whatever. I'm here to do a job."

"Yesterday, you said you were here to backup your brother."

"My brother is trash."

They stared at each other with folded arms and he broke the staring contest with a small chuckle, "You wouldn't be this mad about me holding you accountable if you didn't care. So, I love you too, Lady."

"Kiss my cakes, Mister."

.

Charlotte had just blown her bubble for braids whenever someone knocked on her door. _If this is Simone here to unload her baggage, I swear…_ Mr. Danger walked in and she stared at him. He locked her door and came over, sat on the foot of the bed and removed his mask, "What have I gotten us into?" He asked. "This is my payment for lying to you and trying to become a hero again without letting you know. Char… I can't lead these people. I can't control this team. I can't even get my own sister to respect my authority. What am I going to do when this fails? Because, those 70+ vagabond heroes and their kids, the Thundermans family name and their freedom is actually on _my_ shoulders, right now. The president's daughter and granddaughters… on me. Why did I do this? I could've been honest with you, like you said. You didn't punish me for lying to you, but the universe saw what I did to her faithful daughter and she gave me _this."_

Deceit in their world is tricky, because they all spent years lying to family and friends about their jobs and lifestyles. Lying is an integral part of being a hero, which was one of the reasons why Charlotte was extremely pro-mask. If someone wished to remain behind the mask, to her, that identity was as important as someone being in the closet. She would have wanted Henry to be straight up with her, but she also wanted to respect his mask. HOWEVER, she also knew that Henry was the type to think that he was doing her a favor by hiding. He didn't want her to have to worry, and he was afraid that she would take the return as an insult to what they have together. He's valiant, but still not the smartest person. Charlotte basically tried to take into account the things that she knows and he's more impulsive.

"Henry, why do you think that you remained in that chair for so long after you were able to get up out of it?"

"I don't know. I thought it was because I didn't want people to know and be in my business, but I don't know."

"I think that you mentally needed it. You had gotten used to it. You had resigned yourself to it and felt like it had become a part of your identity. You didn't know how to part with it, because the two of you had made a connection. You'd been through some things in it. It was an addition to your life that you weren't ready to let go of, and because you held on to it, it became a great cover for your secret identity. But, also, I think that change scares you, in general. You were afraid to leave Kid Danger behind, even afraid to try to learn new things and have a backup plan. You ran from it like it would destroy Kid Danger. When you woke up, you were scared of being the person that you saw whenever you looked in the mirror. You wanted old Henry so bad that you were willing to destroy everything you cared about to connect with that identity again. Every change that you've made for _years_ has began with you in terror and has happened with you fighting it, frightened. Even changes that you wanted. When we started trying to make a baby, you were all in, then we succeeded, the thought of change sent you back into the Danger."

"I didn't…"

"Shhh. I'm giving you gems, Henry. You know that I try not to drop truth bombs on you. Bombs are meant to destroy. I'm giving you truth gems and I hope that you can accept them and cherish them… I don't think that the universe works that way - righting every wrong, punishing every bad decision. I think that consequences definitely exist for problematic actions. We're just blips in the universe and while I hate a lot of what's happened, I believe that it all will work out. Every change that you've been afraid to let happen, _has_ happened, and every time, you're absolutely fine, or better - just as I assured you that you would be. This task force is a huge change, for both of us, and it is one time that I can't say with confidence that I know it will be fine, or better. There's no scientific way to calculate the outcome of this mission. There is no practical guarantee that we'll succeed in it. That's scary for me. So, I realize that it's scary for you too. But, I still have hope. I still have faith in you to do whatever needs to be done. I hope that it will be fine. I hope that things will be better when it ends. But, I don't think that your poor little lies made us have to live in a jet with the Thunderman outlaws or made Piper declare that she was 100% Anti-TeamDanger."

She took his gloved hand into her bare one and reminded him, "Whenever I found out that I had super strength, the last thing that I wanted to do was to tell you. Whenever I would see you in that chair, knowing that you couldn't get out of it at your old regular strength, I couldn't bear you knowing that I had amplified strength. I kept that secret from you for months, longer than you were able to keep your vigilante affairs from me. So, maybe, if the universe works like you think it does, it's punishing _me._ "

"Nothing or nobody would ever think to punish you, a perfect creature."

She stroked his hair. "You didn't get us into anything. What we _are_ in, Henlotte can get out of."

"You mean Dangerpage," he said.

"Never correct a woman." He smiled and met her kiss and hugged her.

Hamilton started pushing outward against him and he leaned over to kiss him too. "Hey, Hammy. Daddy's missed you. We haven't been able to talk in a few days." He hugged Charlotte to rest his head on the moving baby and he fell asleep on her. He hadn't slept much in a few days either. She supposed this would be fine. If someone came looking for him, they could always pretend that they were going over tactical plans. Sleep/surveillance schedules, lab schedules, training schedules were set in motion.

.

Shared living space problems included:

 _Lady Danger's temper -_ She stormed through the hallway of the jet, unsure why such a big and extravagant space refused to have more bathroom options and space. ANGRY that she had to put on a ski mask and rush off of the jet to get to a portable outside of the facility. She screamed at the top of her lungs as she did so, alarming everyone on the jet, until Mr. Danger informed them, "Don't panic. That was an angry scream."

"That alarms me more than if it was for an outside threat," Billy admitted.

Charlotte offered, "I'll work on everyday masks for when we're out of uniform. Something light and comfy, breathable, and sleep sufficient.

 _The auto snacker running out of Pagemaster's pregnancy cravings -_ Everyone was gathered up from their rooms and brought into the main meeting space, in pajamas with their sleeping masks on (for the event that someone came into the rooms or they had to leave their rooms), and she folded her arms and pointed to the autosnacker, "I programmed this thing to have the necessary supply of fried oysters, of peeled grapes, and of non-diary dessert lasagne for my cravings… There is no reasonable way that _any_ of these things should be out, and yet, and yet, and yet… this baby is kicking MY BUTT for layers of white chocolate and vanilla drizzled in caramel, while a snack culprit sleeps peacefully? You oughtta be ashamed for these shenanigans, okay? I should be having an entire platter of fried oysters, _right_ now…" Billy took off running off of the jet and she folded her arms, a little annoyed that he left during her tangent to make everybody else miserable, too. But, he came back fairly quickly with everything that she had complained about the machine running out of. "You're the only good person here," she said. "Everybody's dismissed."

 _Listening to Max and Simone's "rabbit-like" behavior -_ Chloe squealed, "Is there no way to SOUND PROOF their resting quarters? We're the Hero League, for crying out loud. Nobody has ever thought to do that on our jets?"

Mr. Danger waved his hands in front of her and said, "There, there. Calm down. They've never had an actual bed to be together in, so I'll just turn on some music and drown them out." He turned on some gangsta rap. Honestly, that was just what he was heavy into at the moment. It blared through the entire jet and Chloe figured that while she didn't understand a word of it, at least he seemed to be playing censored versions, and she didn't have to hear her brother's wife screaming about his skills! Or his desperate loud moaning. She was going to put this disturbing inconvenience into her report.

 _And having a young teenager on board (especially one with the title of Special Agent) -_ "I don't think that the president would approve of something like that. I should know. I am one of the youngest special agents that she has ever appointed..."

"That looks like something that might be okay for somebody who has no idea what they're supposed to do, but any special agent could tell you that there is no way that this lines up with the president's wishes…"

"This special agent believes…"

Lady Danger cut her off with, "Oh my God, SHUT UP ABOUT BEING A SPECIAL AGENT!" *Shouting match between 14 & 18 year old ensues and the other adults just sigh.*

.

Max and Charlotte had the least amount of time with the others, because they spent so much time in the lab. But, she had monitors on the training, so they would see everything that the team had going on while she and Max somehow comfortably fell back into sync on a work level. "Your wife doesn't seem to be having an easy time training."

"She's a little bit rusty. She still works, but not on the Metroburg level, not since the girls."

"They're like, what, one, two?" He looked at her. "I'm genuinely interested in your life. Not trying to vet for weaknesses or use something against you or anything, but if you don't want us to have that type of work vibe, I get it."

"Glad that you do," he said and returned to his work. _What the heck did he think HE had to be snippy about?_ He must have noticed the look on her face, because he softened a little and added on, "I just don't like it when people ask about my family. It's almost always someone who doesn't have their best interests at heart, and that's generally my fault. I have to protect them from my mistakes. I have to protect them from my enemies."

She scoffed and shook her head, " _I'm_ your enemy? What did I ever do to you?"

"That's just it. You've done nothing, but nobody would blame you, if you did. I can't risk that you won't have some kind of delayed reaction."

"Wow. That's who you think that I am?"

"I have no idea who you are. I never would have guessed that you'd be a wife, mother and family woman. Yet, you've put the majority of your energy into your husband's career, and we _both_ know that he isn't done with me."

She fumed, but nodded her head. She wasn't going to argue with him about this. Instead, she offered her own conversation. "My wedding anniversary is coming up, and instead of celebrating with my husband, we will be working. He's training with a team that doesn't want to work together, daily. We're trying to figure out tactical plans each night, then sleeping in separate rooms to keep his identity a secret. Haven't spoken to my best friend in weeks and my sister-in-law? She's so done with both of us for not letting her punch you in the face. You know what I want? I wanna see Jasper. I wanna have an anniversary dinner with my man. My favorite meal, that he cooked for me. I want to kiss him and hold him and make love to him. And most of all, I'd love to be done with this job soon enough to greet my baby, surrounded by my closest loved ones and get kissed by my husband afterwards." She looked like she might cry and he looked like he felt guilty. It was because of him that they were here.

"They're 19 months. Monalise and Maxine… Do you think Hamilton will be born with powers?"

She paused, "Were the twins born with powers?"

"They had them in utero, actually. But, I remember when Chloe was born, she had a different power and then when she aged some, settled on teleportation. I'm hoping that the twins keep what they've got."

"I hope that he's not born with powers. That seems like a heavy burden for a baby."

"It is, especially if it's a receptive sensitive power like telepathy."

"One of yours has telepathy?"

"We think that they both do. They do different things, but what both of them do seems to fall under the telepathy umbrella. Maxine is disabled, so we can't tell how much of her power is hers or how much Monalise is imprinting on her."

"Disabled how?" He made a face and she could tell that her asking this made him uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. It's none of my business. I'm sure that makes it harder for you to have to be away from her, though."

"Simone cries about it every night that we're here. Is there any way that we might be able to arrange visits, during this assignment?"

"I requested a ship counsellor for this assignment already, and was told that it might take a few days. If we can't arrange visits, hopefully the counsellor can help her to at least deal with the separation. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Charls. You're a boss."

She nodded her head and wondered, "So, how did the two of you get together, if I can ask that?"

He smiled to himself and shrugged his shoulders, "Dumb luck. Chloe was right about one thing. Simone had a crush on me _years ago,_ when we were kids. But, I wasn't interested, and she moved around. She and Phoebe were friends and she was one of Phoebe's picks for T-Force. Phoebe was a mentor to her and helped her with training and requested her as her successor, should she ever move on to another position or something. When 'or something' happened, and Simone and I were leading T-Force, I couldn't handle it. I left it in her hands and went to find my sister's killers. Whenever I did find them and I brought them down… and I turned them inside out, literally… she was the only person that I told what I'd done. She helped me to cover it up, but only if I agreed to get some help. I promised her that I would, then I just didn't. I just buried myself in other work and avoided her so it seemed like I was doing okay. I started my dungeon and I inducted my vigilantes. I checked in with her at times, to see how running things was working out for her and any time she would ask me how I was doing, and I knew what she meant, I lied to her, and when she finally called me out for it, I reminded her that she helped me hide the fact that I'd killed a group of villains and that she'd be held just as responsible as me if it came out."

"This story seems to be getting further and further from where I expected it to go."

He laughed, "When I was locked up, she was the first person to trigger memories in me. She came to visit, to see for herself if I was really how it was described to her, and I recognized her face. She was fussing at me and crying and really lashing out, blaming herself for not reporting her worries and all this and I said, "I'm sorry, Simone," and she thought that I had my memories, but I didn't know where I'd pulled her name from or how I knew it. Whenever she would come to visit and to talk, she'd try to rehash conversations we'd had before, but I wouldn't give her the same answers, because I wasn't the same person. She fought with her mom a lot to try to get me a deal similar to this one, but back then. When it didn't happen, my siblings came to her with a plan to get me out. She was a friend of the family, worked with us all on T-Force, Z-Force, whatever, and they both looked up to her as Phoebe's professional replacement and also a big sister role model. Her mom wasn't budging, she thought I deserved it, and she loves Billy and Nora even more than she loved Phoebe. After the plan was in motion and we fled, as you know, I'd gotten my memory back...

I don't know if it was like this for Henry, but for me it was like I'd been in a VR game for all that time, and I had to take off the helmet and be in the real world and try to get my mind to line up all of the stuff that suddenly remembered (the real world), with everything that I had been living in the real world while not in my right mind (the VR game). And, in the VR game, I know I was falling in love with this wonderful woman who was trying to help me, for reasons I couldn't comprehend. Then, the real world came flooding back over me and to be quite frank, I understood _even less_ of why she would help me! She was at the top of her game. There wasn't a superheroine in Metroburg doing as well as she was and it was all on her merit and none of it because of her mother.

We were hiding out, just the few of us who were directly involved in my escape, and suddenly, all of our friends were being targeted and brought in for questioning. A lot of them vanished, maybe because the Hero League thought that they knew more than they were saying… But a lot more of them reached out to us, afraid that they might vanish too, just for knowing us, just for being friends and followers. So, she and I had to figure out a way to get all of these people under the radar and keep them safe. Now that I had this blend of memories - the old memories and the stuff that happened during my amnesia meshed together, and in all of it, I realized that I had this woman in my life who was everything that anybody with any kind of sense would want… And I wanted to keep her as far away from me as possible, because I knew that the last amazing woman that I had a chance with, I ruined her world. I didn't know how I would live with myself if I did that to Simone."

"That makes me feel great," Charlotte said.

"I was healthier by the time I realized my feelings for her. If I were as level headed whenever I knew you, none of this would be happening. But, we were kind of seen as the leaders and as partners. We had to be around each other a lot and I had to see her training and you've seen her legs - they're amazing, and her hair is ugh, so freakin' beautiful and she's tough and lovely and really hard to avoid and impossible to resist… I'd help her to train, we'd come up with combos that used our powers together, and we'd wind up kind of all over each other, staring at each other for a bit before we snapped back to reality.

When she decided that she wanted me, there was no fight. I spent a couple of minutes trying to pretend that I didn't realize that she was coming on to me, then I kissed her and never stopped."

"I've been wondering about her status as your wife. You've been on the run. You couldn't have gotten married, right?"

"Sure, I could have. I am a master hacker, so we were officially married, and there are records to prove it." She laughed, but his secret was safe with her.

"When did you and Henry tie the knot - right after he got those memories back?"

"Well, at that time, I had a lot of cleaning up to do, because I was getting ready to try to graduate college and my internship at President Kickbutt's office was endangered because of somebody's escape. So, it wasn't until my birthday that next year that we got engaged, then I graduated, then I started my career at the Hero League Headquarters. Early fall, we had a very quiet ceremony at our house, with just our closest friends and our immediate family. There were flowers everywhere to symbolize the day, and I bought many crystals and we had a little shrine as the altar and recited vows, signed the paperwork, attached a "Just Married" sign the the back of his wheelchair and went on a romantic chair ride, came back, I carried him across the threshold and everyone had dinner on the patio, then went home. I took out my birth control implant and actually promptly went to sleep. Did you have a ceremony?"

"No. Whenever we found out that Simone was pregnant, she was malnutioned and the twins were already at risk. We have a friend who has some healing powers that she used to bring the twins to their full health and to try to get Moni there, too. But, the twins were depleting her and she had to be on bed rest, which technically for her at the time was a patch of ground with a few blankets. Billy and Chloe stole a mattress for her. She spent four months on it. It took 12 different superpowers to ensure safe labor for all three of them, without any of the prenatal care or medical attention that pregnancy and labor generally requires. Maxine was born with a full head of hair and these light colored dead looking eyes and she wasn't responsive. We thought she hadn't made it, but our friend said she was healthy, just listed the things she saw that weren't working - her eyesight, her hearing, her speech. Monalise was absolutely bald, but screaming and moving and seemingly normal and healthy. Simone nearly died five times throughout the birthing process and the first few months, wasn't able to do much else but nurse them. So, whenever I wanted us to be married, I just had to get it official soon. If something were to happen to her, even though I'm technically a fugitive, I wouldn't have wanted her fate to wind up in her mom's hands. If I wasn't a fugitive, I would've liked a big, flashy, party of a wedding, if she was in good health. Our healer friend tied her tubes, just in case she has some reproductive issues that will be repeated with another pregnancy. Personally, I think it's because of what we have and don't have access to, but for now, we're playing things safe."

"Wow. That's a lot to go through. Is that why you two always tell each other that you love each other before you part ways?"

"When you've been living in a volatile situation for so long, you never know when it might be the last time that you see someone. You want to make sure that your last memories are rooted in love, at least that's how we see it. Each time that she almost died and had to be revived or healed or worked on was a new opportunity for me to be terrified."

Charlotte didn't know what was happening right now, but she suddenly felt something very strongly for Max. It wasn't sympathy, because he seemed fine and there was nothing to feel sorry for him for. It wasn't quite that she felt something good towards him like love or appreciation or anything like that… What in the… OH! Compassion. It was so weird for her to look at him or think about him and put compassion into the situation that she couldn't even fathom that was what it was. But, alas, that was. "Well… If we get this mixture right, we might change the game for you two." She pat him on the shoulder and returned to her computer. Max raised an eyebrow in confusion about her contact with him, but returned to his work, as well. They didn't discuss anything else personal and were soon distracted by the training monitor.

They saw Simone get knocked down during training and get up, ready to kick Lady Danger across the field. "Those two are going to seriously harm each other," he said, concerned.

"I'm sad to say that Simone would probably murder Piper. She's a tough girl, but she doesn't have superpowers."

"She has weapons, though, and Moni's powers aren't indestructibility or super strength."

"She has hand to hand combat weapons, but she'd have to make it past Simone's feet to stick her and why are we debating about _our_ person losing the fight?"

"We're pointing out the obvious dangers of the opponent that our person is clearly overlooking."

"We should get out there."

"Yeah. Henry has zero control right now."

"Watch it…" she warned as she wobbled to the door with him strutting beside her.

.

After the first few extractions minus Max went dangerously wrong, Mr. Danger decided that he would much prefer that Max be fully a part of these missions and squeeze in his lab contributions later. He'd fought Max before. He knew that he was very skilled at working his physical abilities in tandem with his powers, and there was something really magical about watching he and the wife fight alongside each other. She simply was a better fighter with him there, not even counting his telekinetic assists, such as keeping her from crashing to the ground after a dropkick, forcefully sending her directly at an enemy, feet first, and one of Henry's faves - lifting her into the sky so that she could kick land somebody threw the freakin' ground!

He didn't want to admit it, but he kinda fanboyed over them as a duo. How awesome would that be, if he and Char could fight alongside each other, kicking butts as a team?

That built up a lot of trust. He and Ray were as close as they were specifically because of that fight bond. He was hoping that this mission would put him and Piper on that wavelength, but they hadn't teamed up as much as he'd want, because one of them has to be present with the outlaws.

Danger, Max, and Kicker usually went on extraction missions together with Lady, Turbo, and Laser either on another mission or backing them up, depending on the gravity of the scene. Popout observed with Pagemaster, in case she would have to pop in to retrieve anybody.

"This is going to be the biggest extraction mission that we have had to date. In the weeks that we've been stuck with each other, we've brought in 6 of Gwen/Gaia's beasts and none of them have been exactly the same…"

"That one that vomited hot green slime at you," Billy shuddered.

"The one that sprayed you with green skunk stink!" Nora recalled, horrified.

"I thought that the one that looked like a green tiger woman was adorable," Simone said.

"She nearly ripped me to shreds!" Lady fussed.

"You pulled through," Simone said, rolling her eyes.

Mr. Danger said, "Focus. We have all these green blooded monsters in the facility, Gwen got twice as far on escaping her cell as ever before, and we have intel on a location that may have 6 more of her beasts, none of which we actually know the strengths or abilities of. We know the basics - Gaia touched them, that the toxic of her condition entered their bodies through their skin to skin contact, seeped into their systems and transformed them into members of her collective. They don't seem to be able to spread the condition, however, most of them have some sort of toxic properties and many of them have spread illness and killed others with those toxins that they carry. Pagemaster?"

He backed up as she came forward, "Every beast of Gaia's has a different way of spreading their venom to you. A few things remain the same. Whenever you come in contact with any of their excretions or gases, or whatever it is that they do, the chemicals in those attacks irritate the skin, hinders breathing, impairs senses, and numbs reflexes. Those are the early symptoms. Then, there's a fever, hallucinations, vomiting, and my least favorite - advanced cellular necrosis. Within days of exposure minimum pain when maximum so far being four, the infected person can die. The survivors are still in recovery and the cure that we made for exposure has been given to the CDC. We have a possible cure for the beasts, but this mission will be the first time that we get to test it out on actual Gaia beasts."

They dismissed shortly afterwards and were going to be resting for the rest of the night. They had a huge day starting early in the morning. As everyone made their way back inside, the Man Van pulled up to the facility, and they all stopped to look and see what was happening.

Jasper climbed out of the driver's seat and Lady Danger ran, full speed over to him and nearly tackled him in a hug. "What are you doing here?" She asked, then her eyes panicked, "Wait… Has the Cave been compromised? Are Captain Man and Mischief Minder in trouble?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. I have a delivery." She tilted her head, confused.

Mr. Danger and Pagemaster approached and spoke, Jasper hugged them both and told Danger, "I did everything that you asked me to."

Mr. Danger nodded and asked, "Lady Danger, if you wouldn't mind taking our friend from the Man Cave inside of the jet and keeping him company."

"Hell yes! Dude. I have missed you so much. I have a lot to talk to you about," she said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away.

Pagemaster was so confused, "What's going on, Danger?" He opened the van and showed her a table, set for dinner, with flowers and all of her favorites, in dishes on top of it. She gasped.

"Sorry I couldn't be the one to cook for you, but I made sure that I gave Jasper step by step instructions, down to the very last details of my recipes."

"Did… Max talk to you?"

"He submitted a portion of your lab recording to me. Happy Early Anniversary." She gave him a hug and he helped her into the van. Everybody else would be too preoccupied with enjoying what could be one of their last nights to even notice that they were gone.


	30. Let's Get Dangerous

_Chapter Tracks: Storm Warning by Latyrx, Colosseum by Ces Cru, X Gon' Give it to Ya by DMX, Never Scared by Bone Crusher, Don't Stand So Close by Gangsta Boo/DJ Paul & Juicy J, Ante Up by M.O.P. w/ Busta Rhymes/Teflon & Remi Martin, Bia Bia by Lil' Jon & the Eastside Boyz, Roger That by Young Money Hit 'Em High by the Monstars (A bish was a lil' gangsta for a min. Issa Mr. Danger style mix. This the type o' chiz he be listening to in battle and training)_

 **Let's Get Dangerous**

Jasper crashed in the empty room of the jet, when Piper fell asleep on him after venting and ranting about "Henry, Excuse me, Mr. Danger." Jasper heard her out, then refuted everything with logical and reasonable viewpoints of her brother's role and responsibilities, as he realized that she probably wasn't considering these things. Jasper knew better than most people that it was very hard for Piper to express her emotions properly, in particular when it came to her brother.

"If he hurt your feelings, he had to. You and I both know that he wouldn't stand before a group and say things so heavy and affecting _without_ sorting through it with Charlotte first. We also both know that Charlotte has your back tenfold. She'd never say that something needed to be done about you if it didn't. This is one of the reasons that I try to get you to understand that sometimes, you've _gotta_ take into consideration the possibility that you might be wrong sometimes."

"I might be more wrong than the guy who crushed him like a grape, during a pissing contest?"

"In this particular situation with the mission, yes."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Why did I think you'd be on my side?"

"I am on your side. How could I ever claim to love you if I didn't always tell you what's right?"

"Love me? Shut up, idiot," she said, hoping that he couldn't see her blushing in the visible parts of her face.

"Honestly, Lady Danger, how can I not? I've seen you grow from a cantankerous little girl to mature young woman who protects others. I'm proud of you. I'm glad you let me be a big brother to you when he's not available. We've kinda become like best friends."

She stopped smiling beneath her mask and was even redder now, pretty embarrassed. She was quiet after that until the moment she fell asleep.

.

Max and Simone were allowed to see their daughters before their first big assignment with the Danger Force.

Lady Danger was occupied with her friend from the Man Cave, who kept showing his credentials to people on the jet.

Billy, Nora and Chloe were ogling over the baby twins, and Charlotte had opportunity to secretly spend time with her husband, alone in her room.

Dinner had been delicious. The planning had been beautiful, and she knew that by allowing those Thunderman twin girls on board, all Thundermans would focus on that and that Piper would be focused on Jasper. It was a really wonderful evening. Hopefully, that didn't mean that something terrible would happen the next day at their assignment. The universe had thrown her more than a few fast ones over the past few years and there really was no way to tell if another one was right around the corner.

Eventually, Henry _had_ to head back to his quarters, as Mr. Danger and retire for the night. Whenever he did, he heard voices. _Was everyone still awake?_ Charlotte was definitely asleep by the time he left her room. (He couldn't bring himself to leave as long as she was coherently kissing him back.) But, apparently by the time he checked out and he headed for his quarters, not everyone was getting rest before their biggest day yet.

Therefore, he went to check on everyone. Chloe was asleep already, in a bunny onesie, with a matching bunny plushie, snuggled up like a pink and yellow burrito. "That's cute to see."

Billy and Nora were discussing his crush or something, kind of in a whisper. "For all you know, you'll never see her again. Tomorrow might be dangerous…" Nora stopped talking whenever they saw Mr. Danger. They just nodded cordially to him. He tossed a hand wave. It was difficult to express himself with a mask that concealed his entire face. He had to rely on other gestures to communicate, if not just saying things.

Whenever he made it to Max's room, Simone was doing leg lifts, with a baby holding onto each leg and Max was shirtless, practicing telekinesis techniques. "You gonna save some of that for tomorrow?" Danger asked.

"Have to be prepared," Max said, not turning to face him. Simone continued her workout, as well, only nodding in agreement.

"Well, I want you both to get some sleep. It'll be hard enough going in to battle with your kids weighing on your mind. At least let it not be a tired mind."

Max nodded, but Simone rolled her eyes. She was going to spend as much time with her daughters as her body would allow. She hadn't seen them in weeks and if tomorrow went wrong, might not see them again. _Mr. Danger can kiss my entire ass._ "Good night," she said sweetly, instead of speaking her mind.

He passed by the free room and pointed to a sleeping Piper, "You havin' a sleepover?"

Jasper shrugged, "I guess so. Bed's a little small. I don't want to hear her complaining about my sweat. No one told her to fall to sleep here."

"I'll put her in her bed," Henry said and collected her to do so. Whenever he got back, he wondered, "Anything that I should know about the two of you?"

Jasper was filing his fingernails and wondered, "The two of who?"

"You and my sister?"

"We did talk very extensively about how you handle her on this mission. She was excited for the chance to finally officially work with you, but it hasn't been going like she dreamed. So, is there anything you have to say about the two of you?"

"She doesn't get the amount of stress I'm under and she makes it harder when she is impulsive with her teammates. Period. Point blank. But you… I mean… She clearly has a thing for you. Is that… I don't know _reciprocated?"_

Jasper laughed, then stared at Henry. "Are… you being serious?"

"I wouldn't joke about something like this."

"Your sister is six years younger than me. She JUST became an adult like this year!" Jasper chuckled. "She's like MY sister. My KID sister. What kind of questioning is this? And the suggestion that she "has a thing" for me is just honestly sad."

"Charlotte said it."

"REALLY?" Jasper said, acknowledging it now as something that had to be true. If Piper didn't _say_ it directly to her, then it was still an observation by Charlotte and she was just simply smart and observant. "I never would have guessed that. We've never had that kind of dynamic or anything. Honestly, I don't even know what to think about that."

"Well… If it turns into something, let me know."

"That's not gonna happen, Man." Jasper shook his head. _That was weird to even THINK about._

.

The portal opened early in the morning for the rogue V force to collect the babies. Simone was crying, snot and tears running down her face. Max tried to comfort her, but she really just wanted to get this assignment and this mission over and nobody could say anything to ease her pain.

Max tied her extremely long and thick hair up with several holders. He usually gave her a layered ponytail starting from the high end of her head. Charlotte's braids were pulled up into a high ponytail and Lady Danger always wore a high ponytail. High ponytails had become the Danger Force long hair policy. Nora put one of her signature huge bows on hers. Max's hair was long enough now to get put in a man bun. Mr. Danger would have, if he didn't feel like he looked stupid the last time he'd accidentally wound up with one (and he also felt like Max looked stupid AF with his).

But, they were ready. Everyone's suit matched Mr. Danger's, but the Thundermans didn't like masks. "The masks are necessary for your safety. Remember, the Gwen Beasts always have a toxin!" Charlotte fussed when they removed their masks that she had worked very hard on.

Billy tried to explain, "I'm not used to trying to breathe through a mas…"

"Boy you better put that thing back on your little face right now!" Charlotte fussed through her teeth. He nodded and obeyed.

They were going over some final plans when Mr. Danger and Jasper came out and the entire Danger Force came to attention, well… they straightened up at least.

When Jasper and Mr. Danger showed up, Mr. Danger went over the plan and dismissed them to prepare for this battle.

The test subjects were in cryogenic chambers in the lab, with the cure coursing their veins, little by little changing them back into who they once were. It was a slow process, but from Charlotte and Max's tests, would work out within the week, and there were several empty chambers for those that they would pick up today.

Charlotte and Chloe would be inside of the facility keeping watch and working in the lab during this mission and the fighters were as ready as they were going to get. They boarded the jet, and Mr. Danger looked at Charlotte, standing near Jasper and Chloe. They said everything that they might need to say last night, since his identity was still a secret to enough of the team that they couldn't break character. It was tough walking away from her and into such danger, though. Every time he went on a mission, he felt guilty for bringing this back into their lives this way. But, he couldn't think about that right now. He had to keep a clear head so that he could survive and return to her and Hammy. "Are we on, Pagemaster?" He asked, via the mouthpiece in his suit.

"We are," she confirmed through his earpiece.

Lady Danger gave Jasper a final hug before she boarded and Billy wondered, "Is that like.. Your boyfriend?"

"Is that like… _your_ business?" She asked right back without missing a beat. He nodded and looked away. Nora sighed, annoyed.

.

The premises where Gwen's beasts were hiding out seemed abandoned. Danger wasn't sure if it was because they were hiding or had moved on. He said as quietly as he could through the ear pieces, "Stand back for scanning for signatures." He and Nora were together on one side of the building, Billy and Lady Danger on another and Max and Simone in the back. "Turbo Toes, quietly circle and scan, please."

"Roger that," Billy said and did so. "There is some activity in the basement and some activity in the attic. I'm not sure what type of devices that they might have to tip them off of our presence, but they seemed aware that we're here. I counted 8 instead of 6 signatures that match Gwen beasts, though."

"We've got 8 chambers," Lady Danger said, with a shrug.

Pagemaster commented from her lab, "Turbo, do you believe that the current plan can still be maintained, with the two signatures added."

"Umm… I'm not really the plans type," he said.

"Do you think we can take them from what you saw?" LD now asked, annoyed with him. "Or did they look like they'd cream us?"

"I think we can take them," he said. He hoped that he wasn't just saying that out of fear of appearing weak in front of her.

Pagemaster reviewed the scans that he'd made and nodded her head, "Looking at the scans, I agree that we can take them. I would say merge into teams of two. One hits high, one hits low."

"LD, you're with me, Turbo report to Max. When they go low, we go high, Amen?"

"Amen," all answered.

Lady Danger was about to go meet up with her brother when Billy suddenly pulled her in to hug her and said, "Please be safe." She was shocked at his touching her and reflexively punched him in the ribs. He groaned. "Sorry. I asked for that."

She nodded, but said, "Yeah, you did. At least buy me dinner first." But, under that mask, she was smiling as she went to meet up.

"Do we even wanna know?" Pagemaster asked on the radio.

"I know I don't," Danger said. They met with their groups and he ordered, "Max. You've got the command of that one. At this point, we go silent, unless necessary and we meet at the rendezvous."

Max replied, "Check."

.

Nora, LD and Danger took alternate ways to get up to the attic. Nora took the ladder, LD used her rope and Danger power jumped with his enhanced legs, but landed softly because of all of the practice he had with those braces. Once they were on the roof, LD and Danger prepared their weapons while Nora's eyes cut an opening into the roof, using the scanner to be careful not to hit anyone with her lasers. The hole crashed onto the floor of the attic and the present Gwen beasts all looked ready for the fight. "Go!" Danger called and the trio jumped down, letting out their battle cries as they prepared to fight.

.

Max, Simone and Billy went in through the back door and found the opened to the basement. "Guard the door," Max told Simone, who simply nodded once, ready to kick anybody who tried to run up right TF back down. He and Billy descended down the stairs, and everyone felt the house shift. Either Max was using some sort of telekinetic attack, or one of the Gwen beasts had an earth shifting power. But, she wasn't moved by that. She was still ready to attack. Up until the moment that someone appeared, seemingly out of thin air and grabbed her. They fought, but in the scuffle, even though her opponent wound up under her foot, she felt weak. "What the fuuu…?"

She collapsed and the Gwenbeast got up, from under her foot, garnishing a poisoned blade, "Sorry, Wife of Maximus. But, Gaia wishes to meet you," she said and collected Simone before vanishing again.

Billy was swift enough to take on two at a time, but not as strong. He would have to tire them out. Max didn't want to collapse the entire building using too much of his power, so hand to hand combat was his best option, though he did have to toss a Gwenbeast into a wall a few times.

Danger and LD finally had their chance to fight side by side while Nora resorted to being slippery for her opponent. She couldn't laser off any limbs or put any holes into them, because they wanted to capture, not kill these unfortunate… people? Creatures? They still looked humanoid, though their skin, hair and eyes generally took on these greenish, toxic looking elements from their transformations. They looked like mutants of some sort, but Charlotte and Max insisted that there were people beneath it all. That they could be saved by science, somehow. So, even though she wanted to laser this dude in half, she'd have to outsmart and over power him… LD roped Nora's opponent and while he hissed and snarled, he couldn't move. Or not…  
"I had him," Nora said.

"I'm sure you did," LD commented, pulling him to attach him to the other three that she and Danger had dropped.

"To the rendezvous. If any of you make a sudden move, Lasergirl will strike…" He quickly said to her, "Not to kill, though."

"Roger," she said, smiling.

.

Max floated their unconscious four up the stairs, following Billy, who went forward to let Simone know that they had them, but Billy stood, perplexed that she wasn't there. "Uhhhm… Maxi?" He called.

"Yep?" But, Billy couldn't figure out how to word this before Max was in the room and observing the scene for himself. "Looks like there was a fight…" He said, trying to remain calm. "Moni?" He called. Then, on the radio, "Honeybunny… You're not in your spot. Looks like there was a fight. Please respond and let me know that you had to chase someone off or something?"

"We lost Simone?" Nora asked Danger, not on the radio. He prepared to get an update from Max, but another voice came onto the radio.

"Simone is unavailable," she said.

Everyone on the radio felt their hearts stop, even LD. But when the house shifted, Danger knew that Max probably needed _immediate_ attention. "What did you do to her?" He asked, still trying to keep his cool."

"Gaia wants to meet her. So, you know where to find her…" Then, she destroyed Simone's radio.

LD commented."Wait. If they're going to Gaia, that means…"

Danger completed the concerned thought, "They're going to Charlotte!" They rushed to drag the bodies and when they got to the rendezvous, Billy was exhaustedly bringing the last of the four they'd grabbed. "Do I even need to ask where Max is?"

"He took off as soon as she replied," Billy said, breathlessly. LD and Nora rushed to help secure the bodies and they boarded the jet.

"Where's the pilot?" He wondered.

Nora shook her head and said, "I can fly it!" She rushed to the chair and Billy went to back her up. Max was really the pilot of the family, but he'd tried to train his siblings, for emergency situations that both of them had thought would never in a million years take place.

"Okay, let's do it. But… The pilot being gone makes me worry. Lady Danger and I will check the jet, to see…" The two of them went to do so. Danger was terrified of what all of this meant. Simone being captured. The pilot being missing. A monster headed Charlotte's way. And somehow, most terrifying, to him, at least… an angry and emotional Max headed in the same direction. What if he lost his cool and collapsed the lab onto her? Or worst… what if Gwen escaped and went after her? What if Simone was already dead and Max was just going into a trap. A trap where Charlotte was!

"You know… She heard what was said on that radio too. There's no way that she's just chilling and waiting for them to come where she is," Lady Danger told her brother.

"I know that's what seems logical and she's that. But, she's also extremely brave and very honorable. If she knows that somebody is trying to get to Gwen, she's gonna try to guard her. She's gonna try to keep them from getting her out of there, because her escape could lead to so much destruction!"

Lady Danger sighed and shook her head, then got onto the radio and said, "Pagemaster, status report."

"Plan of action in place for the turn of events," she said.

"Pagemaster, you need to get out of there. Get Popout to pop you out of there."

"Negative. Gotta get Gwen out of here and secure the cure. The others are human again. We can't let anybody destroy the work that Max and I have done. It didn't work on Gwen, but we can help whoever she's touched!"

"I'm not asking you. It's an order, Pagemaster!" he said.

"I'm pulling rank as the Cheif Tactical Officer of the Superhero League."

"Char!"

"Mr. Danger…" She sighed. "We all have our roles to play. We all have a mission." There was what sounded like an explosion in the background of where she was and alarms sounding so loud that most of the team removed their earpieces, because of the pain.

"Charlotte!" Danger called out, concerned.

"I gotta go," she said and rushed to secure the cure.

"She's gonna be okay," Lady Danger said, though she sounded scared. Then, she rushed back to the cockpit, while Danger kept the search of the jet going. "How long before we get there? The lab is under attack!"

"Couple minutes."

"Charlotte may not have that!" Lady Danger fussed.

"I'm just as concerned about her as you are!" Nora squealed, angrily, though she wanted to concentrate on not crashing. She'd only done simulations. Never actually the real jet before and with her biggest frenemy there to bother her, it wasn't looking pretty for landing.

"I SERIOUSLY doubt that!" Lady Danger fussed.

Billy quickly got up and pulled her away, to try to give his sister some space and peace to work. "Hey, look, I don't know how you know her, but we know her too. She's more than a coworker. She's a friend. She's family. We love her. We don't want to see her hurt. I understand that you must feel the same way. But, Nora needs to be able to land this thing without additional stress, okay?" She nodded, but she was having what felt like an anxiety attack.

"I just don't know how I would handle something happening to her and Hammy…" Billy gave her a hug, again. This time, she didn't punch him.

Danger returned and said, "Found the pilot. Someone snapped the guy's neck. These beasts aren't playing around. We are headed into a war zone. Everybody look alive."

They rushed back into position as Nora advised, "Everybody buckle up!"

The landing was NOT smooth, by a long shot and when their adrenaline wore off, they'd definitely feel it all. But for now, there were more important things happening. Half of the facility was collapsed. Truthfully, Gwen was probably released, if she hadn't been successfully removed, and there was no telling on the cure, or the lab, or Charlotte… yet.

.

Charlotte and Chloe headed for the lab as the jet left. Jasper wondered, "You sure that you don't want me to stick around and maybe hand you things or something?"

"Jasper, you know that I love you like a play cousin. But, you don't have the clearance to go into my lab and also… You're kind of a mess sometimes. This work is just too important. But, send all my love back to the Man Cave." They hugged and he left. Charlotte said. "I need to go in and see how it goes with the serum for the Gwen beasts that Max administered to last. That'll let us know what kind of results to expect from this mission. If you would access the files for us to record, we'll be ready for the next wave to send to Madame President..."

The others were settling into the jet, Mr. Danger was making sure he set his Henrygram (home hologram system), so that he appeared to be working in and roaming around his home, while he was out on this assignment, in case anyone passed by or paparazzi tried to peek in.

Charlotte and Chloe were in the observation area looking at 15 Gwen beasts. "They don't seem to have changed from the injection. Interface, please scan biosignatures into today's records… Weird. They appear to read as completely human, but they obviously are still affected."

"Doesn't she change them on a cellular level? She destroys and rebuilds them from the inside out. Maybe you have to destroy them to rehumanize them."

"We don't have the science to being people back from the dead."

"Gwen did it."

"But, they aren't back. They're… these… things."

"Your serum says differently. I mean, I wasn't as skilled in science as Max or Phoebe, but I see that what we are looking at is a mutation of mankind. This is an evolutionary step."

"This is a lab created monstrosity by someone who wants to dominate the world."

"So, do we report them as human or not?"

Charlotte sighed and said, "It may just be cosmetic. Like, when you have cancer and you lose hair or when you have to have something amputated for health purposes. Maybe the green hues and eyes and hair and skin are simply changes that the cure can't undo just yet. I will record this as a cure, because according to the tests, they are. We'll tackle the aesthetics later." So, Charlotte began to officially file her records to be sent to the president.

Chloe was watching the screen of the battle while Charlotte was working on notes for researching the cosmetic angle of the cure when she gasped and said, "Somebody just attacked my sister in law!"

Charlotte rushed over and in the corner of the screen did a playback, "Did she teleport inside?"

"I don't think so. It didn't look like a pop in. At least, it didn't look like the ones I've seen when I trained to perfect mine. It was a seamless entrance. She looked like she just manifested into the room. I have to go help Simone!"

"Okay. Do that. I'll let Mr. Danger know…" There was a warning beep that someone was in the building. "Oooo...kay…" Charlotte said as she pulled up the surveillance screen. She didn't see anyone, but maybe they were invisible.

"Well, I can't leave if there's something happening here!" Chloe lamented and rushed to the surveillance screen too. She glanced at Simone, kicking down her opponent and was relieved. "She got her," she said as Simone placed her foot on the woman's chest, demanding answers. Now, Chloe could focus on her assignment in the lab. So, neither herself nor Charlotte saw whenever Simone passed out, because they had to double check the possibly compromised hallway.

"It's Gwen's wing. If she somehow got some invisible beast to bail her out, they aren't showing up on my scans. I'm gonna guess that a technopath may be on the premises, but not inside and just trying to make us think that they are. At any rate, I'll need you to move Gwen to a different location, ASAP."

"This is the only facility that we have that can contain her!" Chloe said. "What would I even do with her?"

"Stash her in the North Pole, like Max told me that you did him that time?" Charlotte said, releasing the gas to temporarily knock Gwen out. While they were still discussing how helpful or not helpful that might be, Max's voice appeared on the radio.

Now, Chloe rushed back to the screen to try to playback what happened with Simone. She whispered, "I thought that she was okay…" She felt extremely bad. Whenever Max leapt away to fly off, she said, "I've gotten get Gwen out of here before any of them get here."

"I'll salvage our work and we'll regroup at Headquarters when I've got everything. Get guards for her and don't let her out of your sight! Her people are gonna be using their hive brain to find her, but hopefully the North Pole is out of range."

"Hopefully, me and her guards don't freeze to death!" She popped out and Charlotte activated the system to try to protect the building against attacks. She pulled up the screens of Gwen's cell and put Chloe on her surveillance as she packed up supplies to be transported out via salvage drones. Henry and Piper were trying to check on her, but they were just slowing her down and she wanted nothing more than for them to focus on whatever they had going on, on their end.

Then, she heard the side of the building fall and saw on screen the damage that was made. She saw on screen how Gwen's shatterproof observation window shattered and Chloe had to pop out to avoid being shredded by shards of glass. "I gotta go." She simply didn't have the time or position to ease their minds at the moment.

Whenever she sent all of the drones out, she rushed to the escape tube and climbed upon the platform, "Down the tube," she said and was suctioned out as she held her belly, and finally sighed with relief for a moment. But… That moment was short. What about her friends? What about her family? What about Gwen, who she had just seen escape? As soon as she touched down, she would have to check in with them.

She landed in the gravity less platform, floating to avoid crashing to the floor. "And, land." She landed on her feet when the gravity was reactivated and went to turn on the control panel of the facility bunker.

"Deactivate bunker tubes," she ordered, as she pulled up her surveillance to see the rest of the team. "Locate Simone Kickbutt… Thunderman…"

.

The Danger Force approached the building, without a plan. "Should we try to get the ones we captured into capsules?" Nora wondered.

"Do we need to call somebody for backup?" Billy asked.

"I'm gonna go find Charlotte," LD declared.

Danger snapped, "Everybody, stop! Turbo, get the bodies into the capsules. Lasergirl and Lady D, get to the lab and _report_ what you see. I'm gonna find Max, and make sure he didn't do this and that he doesn't do anything he can't redeem himself from. Break!" He wanted to find Charlotte more than anybody, but he also trusted her and felt in his bones that she was okay. LD might need visual confirmation, so he sent her to check it out. Billy was the only person fast enough to get those bodies secured, and if they didn't, all of that was for nothing. Now, where was Max? He radioed, "Max, Buddy… It's Mr. Danger. We're all back at the facility. We wanna help you get Simone back. What's your 20, Dude?"

Max was staring at someone with a cloth over her mouth, holding on to his wife, who now was conscious, but out of it, and Gwen was fast approaching with a team of her Gwenbeasts. He answered, "We're on the roof. I'm outnumbered. They have Simone."

"I'm on the way," He said.

"Same," Billy said.

"We've got your back, Bro," Nora replied.

"I don't see Charlotte anywhere," Lady Danger said.

"I'm safe. Go help them!" Pagemaster said.

"Oh Thank God!" The Dangers said, simultaneously as the Danger Force rushed to the rooftop to meet for this showdown.

Off the radio, Charlotte wondered, "Wait… where the heck is Chloe?" She didn't want to alarm any Thunderman but tried to tap into Chloe's personal radio to establish confirmation that she was okay.

.

Gwen came walking up with a hairbrush as Mr. Danger posted up next to Max and the others gathered behind them, but ready. She said, "I'm glad that everybody could make it. I wish I could have better prepared for my debut to the team, but I've been on lockdown." She brushed her hair up into a ponytail and said, "You know, I don't have a bone to pick with most of you. This is between me and the man who stole my life. I would say that the Dangers should beat it, while you still have the chance. I'm going after his family, and as far as I know, that's not you."

Lady Danger folded her arms and wondered, "Who asked you, though?"

Gwen smiled and tilted her head, "You really gonna stand with him? After what he did to _your_ family? Girl." She passed off the hairbrush to one of her followers. "This man took years of your life. The amount of damage. The amount of recovery. You think it's all good because he stopped being able to abuse the system and the fallen? You think that he's changed, on the inside? I'm gonna put it to the test. I'm a scientist after all. Will Maximus be the good guy that he's pretending he's become whenever he loses something again? Let's find out…" She removed her glove and reached out to touch Simone, but Max pushed both of his hands forward and knocked them backwards, stopping her from touching his wife. "Already, he's being a way…"

"Look. Let them go. Let them all go and take me. I'm the one that hurt you, nobody else did!" He said, desperately.

"What? Baby, no!" Simone said. "She's just messing with you! She has no plans for letting anybody here go. She went after Charlotte already. She definitely has beef with all of us and you giving yourself up wouldn't change that!"

"Went after Charlotte? Don't be melowdramatic, PK." (President's Kid) Gwen laughed and folded her arms, "Charlotte is the main reason that I became the goddess that I now am. I was trying to bless her. Tell them, this is a beautiful life," she said to the one holding on to Simone.

"It is," she said.

"I know her voice," Nora commented. "Why do I know her voice?" She wondered.

"Because that's Auntie Mandy," Max said, sadly. "I'm sorry that you were pulled into this."

"It is a beautiful life," Mandy said from behind her mask.

He turned to face the team and told them, "I'm sorry that you all were pulled into this. I can't let anybody else get hurt because of me. I can't handle anymore guilt."

"We aren't leaving you, you idiot," Lady Danger told him.

But, they didn't have a choice. Max pushed them all back and as they floated backwards, begging him not to do this, with Simone yelling the same from Aunt Mandy's grasp, he took the building pieces and made them a pile to force them on the other side of.

"Dammit, Max!" Danger said over the radio before Max ripped out his earpiece and tossed it aside. Billy was quick enough to go around and back up to the roof, so Max lifted one hand, pushed him back, then bumped his head to knock him out. "DAMMIT MAX!" Danger yelled, checking on Billy. Lady Danger rushed to him, as well.

Nora tapped something on her chest and said, "V Force, do you copy? We have a situation…"

"We know. Your little sister is here right now."

"Chloe is there?"

"She said that Gwen escaped and she didn't know if anyone would make it out alive. We're going to open a portal…" And almost like that was the cue, a portal opened and several of the Thunderman's friends came out. "What kind of situation do we have on our hands?" They all looked up at the roof where Max was standing, ready to face off with Gwen and her army, his aunt holding tight to his wife. "So… a shitshow?"

"The shittiest," Chloe said, to everyone's surprise. "I'm gonna get up there and get my sister down, then do with them what you will."

"That lady holding Kicker is Aunt Mandy!" Nora said. "It's not her fault that Gwen touched her."

"We have a cure. I'll grab both of them," Chloe told her and popped out.

Chloe appeared behind Mandy, but whenever she did, Mandy sensed her quickly enough to greet her with a swift elbow to the throat. "Oh no!" Simone said and stomped on Mandy's foot. The woman cried out as Simone checked on Chloe. Mandy grabbed Simone into a headlock and Gwen reached out to grab, but just as her fingertips brushed through Simone's hair in the struggle, right when she separated from them, the three were gone.

Chloe, Simone and Mandy landed near the V Force and Danger rushed over to try to check on them (and secure Mandy until they could administer the cure), but she went invisible, and probably was rushing back to her master. Chloe held her throat and tried to speak, but everyone was talking and there was a lot of clamor. "She's… Infected…" Chloe finally managed to say and everyone shut up and turned towards Simone, whose veins were now showing, green through her skin and she had a streak of green in her hair. The smile that crossed her face was quite sinister and her first action as a new creature was to kick Chloe, clear across the yard...


	31. The Chemical Between Us

_Trigger Warning for character death and grieving._

 **The Chemistry Between Us**

The alert at the Man Cave was different than usual. It was loud and blaring, but had Charlotte's voice saying, "S.O.S." repeatedly.

"What the heck is that alarm?" Ray asked Schwoz.

"That is the Danger Force SOS!" He said. They both rushed to the panel, where Mimi was pulling up the call.

Charlotte was in some type of cave herself, and said, "Oh thank God! You're there! Gwen has escaped the facility and infected a member of our team. I'm trapped in the secret passage of the facility. The team is facing Gwen's army with Rogue V Force fighters that they've not trained with. Whoever Gwen touches runs the risk of joining her collective and a lot of the fighters haven't been briefed on non-lethal takedowns of those infected not do they know what abilities some of them have!"

Ray and Mimi both grabbed their gumball tubes as Ray wondered, "The infected… Was it…?"

"Mr. and Lady Danger are both currently fine. But Shizkicker is battling her friends and family as a Gwenbeasts, as we speak."

Mimi gasped and asked, "And Max?"

"Barely holding it together on the roof with about 20 of them." Charlotte signed out when they were on their way, but didn't distract her team by announcing it. A transmission from President Kickbutt came through and she sighed and opened it.

"Status report!"

"Gwenbeasts attacked the facility and she's out. Our forces are fighting hers to try to keep her here, but anyone she puts her hands on almost immediately turns, strengthening her numbers and weakening ours."

"I will bring reinforcements. Remove the FaceMask S.O.S."

"Yes Madame President… One more thing… Gwen has touched your daughter…" Charlotte sent her live feed of Simone kicking various V Force members, looking almost like a completely different woman with those green veins.

But that high pulled, layered ponytail, that dancer's form, those bone shattering kicks… "Very well. Treat as hostile," the president said sadly. Charlotte nodded once. You hate to see it, but Simone was definitely using lethal legplay in this battle. "Kill Kicks," she herself called them. That girl could kick a foot sized hole through a man's heart. She could disembowel you with a roundhouse. She could behead someone with high kick chin check…

Mr. Danger zapped her and she would fall, but by the time anyone tried to collect her, she was over it and kicking to kill. "President Kickbutt says treat as hostile," Charlotte said in his earpiece.

"President Kickbutt can kiss butt," he replied. He ran towards Simone, pounced to leap beyond her opponents and gave her a scissor kick to take her down and hold her still. His hands were planted on the ground behind him as she struggled to try to kick herself free from the hold of his enhanced legs tightly around her body. She couldn't move her arms and they were positioned to where she couldn't kick him. She was making crazed sounds trying to free herself, but he just spoke calmly.

"Simone. I know that you're in there. I know you probably can't fight whatever affect her powers have on you. But, I'm hoping that the live I've seen inside of you, for your husband and in-laws, and your adorable baby girls will help you to make it through this."

She paused. "Monalise. Maxine." She sniffled, "My world… is gone."

"No. We're going to rescue you. You'll be cured. You'll see your baby girls again. I promise, I'm going to make sure of that, if I don't do anything else." She cried for a moment, until Gaia's mind kicked in and she realigned her focus.

"You'll die trying to rescue anyone that Max values," Simone said, let out a groan and kicked up to pick herself up from the ground, pulling up Henry and his leg hold in the process and quickly kicked behind her, striking him hard enough to hurt him so that he released her. He crashed to the ground and she raised her leg high, whenever she was going to drop it down onto his face and very possibly crush his head into mush, her leg stopped.

Mr. Danger made a small terrified sound and rolled from under her foot as she looked up at Max on the roof, his hand held out towards her, preventing what she was going to do. Gwen commanded, "Simone. Fight Max to the death." Max turned around and looked at Gwen's smug smirk as Simone ran, full speed in their direction.

"It won't work. I'll never kill her. I'll die first."

"I'm counting on you not killing her. But, it will be nice to see you be touched by the power of forced control. Your wife is going to try to kill you. You'll never forget that trauma. Even if they wipe your brain clear. One day, something would trigger it. Just like the lab explosion triggered mine." Simone made it to the roof and Gwen held a hand up to her, to pause her momentarily. "I was a beautiful genius. You told me that you would help me to become legit and still make money. But, when I couldn't force a girl to love you, you locked me up and forced me to work endlessly to earn my freedom. Freedom you never gave me."

Simone began talking now, with tears in her eyes, "I spent weeks deprived of sleep, barely given food, being physical hurt with each failed attempt…" Max turned to face Simone as Gwen used her to speak through. "How could you do the things that you did to another human being? To someone's daughter? You're selfish. You're heartless. You're what's wrong with the world." He knew it was Gwen's mind speaking, but it still hurt to hear Simone's voice saying the things that she knew he feared the most.

"You always have to dominate everything. When I was pregnant, you wouldn't let me work or fight. You kept me in bed, which was a mattress in a hideaway. You wouldn't let me see my mother. You insisted she would lock me up." She was crying… and those were Simone's experiences.

"She would have!"

"She loves me! She's my mother! She would have at least made sure that I was fed and had shelter and proper medical attention. I almost died! My heart stopped beating! I was hemorrhaging! I was in so much pain that I went blind and you kept telling them not to let me die. Because YOU didn't want to live without me. You told them to tie my tubes because YOU didn't want to risk another dangerous pregnancy when the danger was because instead of doing what was best for me and our babies, you were yet again, ONLY thinking about yourself! You didn't even ASK ME what I wanted!"

He wasn't sure if this was Simone being honest because of Gwen's influence or Gwen using Simone's memories to disarm him, but at any rate, he couldn't move because he felt so guilty and miserable.

That was when Gwen allowed Simone to attack. She charged Max and kicked him hard enough to fly him off of the side of the building. He caught himself and levitated, but wasn't willing to fight her. So, he remained floating, out of her reach. "Jump to your death," Gwen said. Simone took a sprint and belly flopped right off of the side of the building, but of course, Max stopped her from falling.

"Gwen! I'm the person who harmed you!" Max reminded her, holding Simone's body midair as she screamed and tried to fall.

Gwen shrugged her shoulders and said, "Harming her would hurt you the most. I know what I'm doing."

Max gently lowered Simone to the ground and followed her down. "Honeybunny…" She took a swing at him, which he dodged, and he tried to kick him and he moved. "Monie," he wrapped himself around her from the back and said, "I'm sorry for anything that I ever did to hurt you. I'm sorry for any anger that you're carrying around. We'll talk about it all later." He blew on her until he had her frozen. She would be fine, for now, and there was no way that she could get in his way as long as her had her frozen. She wouldn't be harmed. He would release her from cryo after it was safe for her. Yes, once more, he was making a decision about her life that he didn't get her input on… But… He honestly just didn't know what else to do at the moment… Except for catch Gwen!

"Thundermans!" He called. He didn't have on his earpiece, but his mouthpiece was in his suit, so they flocked to him, in order to help him fight Gwen.

Mr. and Lady Danger were fighting Gwenbeasts, surrounded by VForce fighters, helping them.

Lady Danger commented, "This is next level superhero badassery. Only one thing could possibly make this any better. And, I believe that thing is happening now." She pointed and Mr. Danger saw Captain Man and Mischief Minder running upon the scene from the Man Copter. The Dangers fell back a little. The V Force had this enough for a quick rundown.

Captain Man laughed a little and looked around, "Well, this appears to be a mess."

"Nothing that the Man-Danger can't clean up," Lady Danger said. They gave each other a little handdab that was different from the one that he and Henry used to have.

Mischief Minder said, "Pagemaster, do you copy?"

"Yeah. I'm sending you the coordinates you'll need encrypted. Good luck."

Captain Man and Mischief Minder locked their hands around each other's forearms and shook like comrades. When she heard the beep and checked the coordinates, they broke and she rushed away. He informed the Dangers, "Our smart girls are hatching some kind of smart girl plan on the side. You know how they do it." He looked around and saw V Force subduing Gwenbeasts. Saw Thundermans taking on Gwen's soldier shield to get to her, and saw Simone, frozen in attack mode on the side. "So… I guess we do what we do best and Man crush."

"Try not to kill them. We wanna give them a cure," Mr. Danger said.

"Cure or bust," Captain Man said, nodding.

"In Danger, we trust," the Dangers reflexively said and excitedly quickly acknowledged that they had actually had a thought at the same time! The three walked back onto the battle field, Captain Man in the middle, Lady on his right, Danger to his left. The fighting that each of them previously did together as separate teams meshed well together and the three actually made the type of team dynamic that the Dangers had both been hoping for with their Danger Force assignment. Putting those Gwenbeasts down, without killing them wasn't as difficult for them as it seemed to be for some of the more destructive V Force members.

.

Pagemaster handed it to her and said, "This is so dangerous. I feel like it could be fatal. If you just get it to Max, he should be able to do it."

Mischief Minder shook her head and said, "We only have this one, right now and it could take weeks to make another. If she escapes, we might never catch her again. I'm partially responsible for her. I let Max do what he was doing out of fear. I left my friend in his clutches. Her vendetta against him has to include my betrayal, as well. We can't let this go on. This needs to be the last battle with her."

Pagemaster nodded and said, "Stick it into her heart. Anywhere else, and her system may have the chance to reprogram it."

"And this cures her… or will it… kill her?"

"It will take away her powers. We have no way of knowing how that will affect her body, though. It's been through a lot these past few months…" Pagemaster hugged her and said, "Please, be careful."

"I'll be brave. That's what I need to be right now," and she headed back to the field while Pagemaster headed back to the bunker.

Mischief Minder arrived to see Captain Man and Mr. Danger directing V Force members as to what to do with the unconscious Gwenbeasts. Lady Danger had joined the Thundermans in incapacitating the wall of Gwenbeasts protecting Gwen. She saw her in and she went for it. Gwen turned around as soon as she noticed her appear. "Amina," she said.

Mischief Minder removed her mask and nodded her head, "Hey Gwen."

"It's Gaia now. Gwen is like… well… There's not really a comparison that you could possibly understand. Perhaps, like the caterpillar, before spinning a cocoon and coming out completely different on the other side. The main difference being, I could touch you and change you completely, as well. And you, Amina… don't deserve that type of grace."

"I was a coward."

"I find that those who _were_ cowards _are_ cowards. They don't change. One act of bravery, if this is what you think this is will not make you any less of a coward, any less of a traitor than you were when you left me in that dungeon, being a slave on a slab for someone who you introduced me to, promising me a better life. Well, I've got that better life now, Sister. And you don't deserve it. You're a coward AND a traitor - two things that no one ever comes back from."

"I just wanted to tell you, face to face, that I'm sorry. I should have helped you. I'll never forgive myself for not doing so."

Gwen gave her a small smile and said, "If you mean it, let me hug you. You'll be able to know what I know, to feel what I feel, and vice versa. Gaia is a community. I will know that you're genuine, when we touch."

One last look at Captain Man, who still didn't realize that she was on the roof and she nodded her head and opened her arms to be received by Gwen. If she could take away her powers before the effects, that'd be great. If not, there was still a cure. And if she failed altogether, well… she pushed that from her mind and allowed Gwen's arms to wrap around her.

They each were surrounded by this green cloud, in their minds, their childhoods being replayed, parallel, their entire lives on a timeline for both to see and the other to experience this time as their paths melded into one. They saw every memory, felt every emotion from each other's entire existence. Was this how it always was when they changed? Yes, it was… She was changing! She had to remember! She had to act fast! Mischief Minder reached for the injection and while their minds were becoming one, Gwen noticed, but wasn't quick enough to stop it from shooting her in the heart. Betrayal! Again! "Amina!" She hissed and clenched at her. She was changing, but she wasn't going this alone! "Gaia's touch can give new life, or simply take it!" She clawed into Mimi's arm and Mimi let out a scream.

Now, Captain Man noticed them. He knew her scream and looked up at the roof, where both women were holding on to each other and falling to their knees. Captain Man and the Dangers rushed in that direction to her. Gwen gasped for air and the Gwenbeasts on the scene seemed to fall to their knees, holding their heads in agony, freeing up Max and the Thundermans, too. Captain Man collected Mimi from Gwen's grasp and tried to hold her. "Hey, hey… What did you do?" He asked, cradling her.

"I took away her power. It won't cure them, but she won't control them anymore…" She said, in a hoarse voice and looked at her wound where Gwen scratched her. "I think she poisoned me. I didn't know that she could do that, but… look at this wound. That's definitely radiation burns. Good God, hopefully it doesn't kill me slowly.."

He rubbed her face and shook his head, "You're okay. You're fine."

Gwen laughed, laying on the ground, "She's toast. I gave her exactly what I have without my power, just the negative effects of that explosion." Ray tried not to cry. He knew his cry was ugly and that at least some of these kids looked up to him. It didn't work, though. He knew Gwen was right. Mimi was dying right in front of him, just like Gwen appeared to be. "Like I said, a traitor until the end."

"She's a hero," Max said, tearing up and crouching in front of Mimi. "I can freeze her and Charlotte and I can work on a cure!"

"It's too late," Mimi said, barely breathing. She reached for Gwen's hand and said, "She doesn't deserve to die alone, anyway. I saw what she felt. She was filled with rage. She hurt people, but she's not any less redeemable than you…"

Gwen accepted her hand and said, "I am, now. I'm dying, Bitch." Ray helped them to reach each other. If that was what Mimi wanted, he'd just have to punched Gwen's corpse in the face, afterwards. The two women held on to each other. "Gwenises was successful, I think." Mimi just laughed and shook her head. They both started to cry and clasped their hands together. "This is still his fault," Gwen said. "He still wins. His wife gets a cure. His children are safe, and his victims die. I hate men."

"So… Gwenises was _not_ successful," Mimi joked and laid her head on Gwen's shoulder.

"I can't watch this," Lady Danger said and turned to leave. Turbo followed her to check on her. Lasergirl decided that it was best to leave the ones who cared the most there. Mr. Danger squeezed Captain Man's shoulders and the two women looked at each other and laughed a little, then stopped moving completely.

"Mr. Danger, status report," Pagemaster said through the earpiece.

"Gwen has been depowered. Mischief Minder has fallen in action."

Captain Man wiped his face and turned towards Max, "She's right. This is still your fault." He lunged at him and Max held his hands up in surrender. It took several members of the V Force rushing the roof to get him off of the Thunderman. But, Captain Man had so much anger for him, anyway. This was his boiling point. By the time they freed him, Max was simply laying there, bloodied and accepting. It was his fault, and they both died, not just Gwen. Cohort, too… She once really cared about him. She was a friend that he'd hurt and now, she died to fix his mess - another hurt woman. He just laid there thinking about it.

Pagemaster entered with the President and a team to clean up, and organize this event. The President called for Simone to be unfrozen, which Max found the energy to do and she seemed to have a delayed reaction to the untethering of her mind from the hive. She still had all of those memories, though and when she looked at Max, he looked as different to her as she probably looked to him, with those green veins. She wasn't cured yet, so she went with the group of Gwenbeasts that would be receiving it next. They watched each other as she was led away. She had forgiven him when she didn't know how it felt to be his victim, but having melding minds with Gwen… feeling her pain and terror when she was his puppet… having her own frustrations with him brought to the surface…

Nora and Chloe found him and Chloe said, "You need to report to medical."

He turned to his little sisters and nodded. "Where's Billy?"

"Already reported," Chloe said. Billy was being treated with Lady Danger holding his hand and Chloe squeed a little bit, "We might get to have Lady Danger become a Thunderman!"

"Easy, Kid. He hasn't even seen her face," Nora said and patted Max on the back as they went towards medical. He walked with his sisters, but he was studying the contamination body bags that Gwen and Mimi had been put into. More horrors to add to his list of reasons that he never expected redemption.

.

"Being commemorated and buried as a hero doesn't help this not to hurt," Charlotte said to Mr. Danger as they attended Mischief Minder's farewell ceremony.

He nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss. She and I never really clicked, especially after I found out what kind of friend she was, but in the end, she did the right thing. And, I was there. She didn't seem to regret her decision. I think that it gave her some peace to help everyone, and I think that she wanted and received forgiveness from her friend."

"Who is being buried as a supervillainess and a terrorist who has made such a mark on the non-supes world that people are now calling for us to all be rounded up and put into camps."

"I mean, I love to blame Max Thunderman for things, but Gwen literally made her choices," he said.

"I know. It's just a messed up situation all around. She never was more diabolical than love muffins and robberies before Max tortured her and the President swiped her memory."

"I did some shady things whenever I lost my memory, but what she did…"

"You lost a few years. She lost everything."  
"Why are you defending her?"

"I don't know! Because everything isn't black and white. Mimi cared enough about her to die at her side, after she poisoned her. I have to believe that a good person was there and was just buried in all of her trauma." She teared up as the president spoke of Mimi, like she knew her, from notes that Charlotte had made for her. "It just feels like nobody won in this fight."

"Whatever it feels like. We won. We defeated a monster. We cured some victims. The damage that Gwen did, whether it's an extension of the damage that Max did… We squashed it."

She looked at Simone, still green veined with the hair streak, though she was now cured. She had her babies sitting on her lap, but Max wasn't seated with her. She wasn't even sure if he was there. "Some of the damage will last, though. That's my worry."

.

Piper was glad to finally be back home, settled into her room and resting without a mask on her face. She had been silent on social media for days. All she did was change all of her profile pictures to the nationally recognized purple overlay fallen hero photograph of Mischief Minder in costume, but she hadn't spoken to anyone about it. Not even Jasper. They were both definitely feeling the loss, as was evident by when they came into the Man Cave and the lights were purple and dimmed. Schwoz was carrying around a box of tissues and crying all of the time. Ray was packing up her things, boxing them up and stacking the boxes in the center of the Man Cave. Captain Man was going to donate them all to the V Force, as they were now back in their former facility, now run by Simone Kickbutt Thunderman, a noted Gaia survivor, even though her label as a super-vigilante was probably going to stick for a while.

He had to do two types of grieving. He had to be Captain Man, who recently lost his sidekick and an important member of his team, and he had to grieve as Ray Manchester, the known lover of Amina C0hort to her family and friends who think that she died in the facility, working as a scientist whenever it was attacked by Gwen. He had to also try to be there for them as they reconcile the fact that their loved one and her murderer were old friends, not knowing most of the darkest portion of their history together. Their Amina had changed her life around and was working a wonderful, legal job, and this is what happened to her. He wasn't a very consoling person, and he wasn't good at managing his own feelings. It was all a lot for him.

Piper came to his room while he was just sitting there, staring at a few things that he couldn't part with just yet. "Hey… We got a call. Should I handle it on my own, or are you…"

"The world is still turning!" He said cheerfully and tucked the purple head scarf into his pocket, before grabbing his gumballs.

"It is. But, no lie, mine has stopped, and it'd make sense if yours did too, for a while."

"This is unlike you, Piper. Acting all humanlike… WAIT… Is this because of that little Thunderman boy? That family is bad news, Pipes. Stay away from that kid. His parents failed miserably with everybody but that dead one."

"Wow. Shut up and blow the bubble," she shook her head.

"Okay, but the Thundermans are trouble," he said with a shrug as they blew their bubbles and transformed. Piper always whipped her ponytail right after. She headed out, ignoring him about Billy. For one thing, that wasn't her boyfriend. She hadn't even seen him since the mission. Second, he seemed like he was okay. She was probably more of a troublemaker than he was, sans that whole fugitive thing, but that was different. That was for family.

They went to go take the call and she wondered just how long before every call didn't begin with condolences. That only reopened the very wounds that she was trying to heal and Ray was trying not to even acknowledge.

.

Hamilton didn't get the origin story that Henry dreamed of, but he got the birth that both of his parents were so happy about. He was healthy and the delivery was safe and problem free. Well… the typical problems like labor pain and all that, but nothing like the horror story that they heard about Simone's delivery. Charlotte had an epidural that she helped modify for maximum safety and minimal risk. There was no way after everything that she had gone through this year that she wanted to naturally just squeeze a whole human out, whether or not he was a "tiny" human. He came two weeks late and was still only 6 lbs and 16 inches. "I think we know where he gets his size from, but the rest of that is clearly all me," Henry said, holding his son selfishly.

"I wish I could see him and judge for myself!" she mock complained. "Baby hog."

"Well, I mean… I feel like I worked on this, too."

"I know that you didn't just…"

"I immediately regretted it, if that helps?"

"Give me my baby." Henry handed off Hamilton to her and she mused at how tiny he was. "He is the smallest human that I have ever seen. How? He didn't get ANY of your height?"

"He's two days old, Char." He watched her cradle him to her skin and asked, "Is it my turn again?"

"DUDE!" She said, firmly. He shrank into his chair.

Ray, Jasper, and Piper came in with more gifts than Charlotte knew was even probably allowed and excited. This was their "first good news" since the Cave's loss and Ray was finally actually happy about something. Whenever she presented Hamilton, he laughed and asked, "Where's the rest of him?" Henry rammed his chair into the back of his feet. "Gah! Henry!"

"You're invincible," Piper said.

"Indestructible! I still feel pain." He grabby handsed at the baby and said, "Lemme hold it!"

"No," Charlotte said. "I've got strict rules on baby handling in the early weeks of his life and I know for a fact that you didn't read any of them and if you did, I still would be worried. Besides, I have hardly gotten to hold this boy. I fall to sleep with him against my heart and wake up to Baby Hog, babyhogging him!"

"You're asleep. He's not getting the love he deserves when you're asleep," Henry said.

"Then, you fall to sleep with him on YOUR chest!"

"He can feel it in the fact that I stole him from you to be the one to get that moment."

Piper rolled her eyes and looked closely. "I love him already, but he literally looks like a dumpling with hair. When does it get cute?" Henry now charged his chair behind Piper, but she hopped onto the bed and he crashed into it. "Oh, wait. I see his face now. He looks like Henry. I'm sorry," she said and touched Charlotte's shoulder.

"You can't tell who they look like this early! With his eyes rolling all over the place and his lip gurgling and stuff! But, I happen to think that he looks like me."

"Where?" Jasper wondered, "In his size?"

"He's two days old!" she snapped. "Nobody can tell yet."

"Idk, Man."

"Definitely looks like my stupid brother, unfortunately."

"All I see is the kid in the kid…"

"Well… Okay. But, I disagree," she said.

Ray settled on the other side of her, leaning on the bed to look at the baby. She saw some kind of look in his eyes as he watched him and she said gently, "Okay, if you wash your hands and get a blankie to put on yourself, I'll let you hold him, as long as you're next to me." He excitedly rushed to do that so that he could hold the baby and she smiled at this. Whenever he returned she helped him to get settled with Hammy, and he watched him with wonder. "Hammy, it's your Uncle Ray."

"Cool Uncle Ray," he corrected.

"Kid, you have zero uncles and one aunt, and I will tell you that all the days of your life," Piper said from the other side of Charlotte.

"I actually thought about having one," Ray said. Everyone was shocked. "Mimi was saying how she was running out of time and thinking about going to one of those centers where they science a baby into you and for a moment, I was ready to volunteer. Could you imagine how I'd feel right now, if I had made that mistake?" He furrowed his eyebrows and Hamilton moved around uncomfortably.

"Positive energy, Ray. Babies have strong senses," Charlotte said. "And for the record, if you two had done that, I don't think she would have made the sacrifice that she made."

Ray smiled and said, "So, I'm the reason she's gone, then."

"No. What? No. I just meant that she would have struggled to be the hero that she felt like she needed to be in that moment. I took one look at Hammy, and I never want to put on a suit again."

"You didn't want to put it on, in the first place," Henry said. "Wanting to put on the suit doesn't make a bad parent…"

"Why is everyone hearing something different than what I'm saying?"

"Boys are stupid," Piper said.

"Doesn't stop her from that Thunderman disaster, does it?" Ray asked Hammy in baby talk voice.

"I've not done anything… shut up!" Piper said, blushing.

Henry asked, "Wait, what are we talking about?"

"Billy's crush on Piper," Charlotte said.

"His crush is on Lady Danger," Piper corrected. "And he hasn't seen her in nearly a month… or reached out to her, even though they're BOTH on SoulDates!" She folded her arms and rolled her eyes, reiterating, "Boys are stupid. I hate men."

When she said it, Ray thought about Gwen and Mimi's last moments and flinched. She realized after she said it and said, "Sorry, Ray…"

"You think I care about gender politics?" He asked, but his hands were shaking and he offered Hamilton back to Charlotte.

"That's not what I meant," Piper said. He _knew_ she knew what she had unintentionally triggered.

"Well, it's fine. How can anybody think about anything bad when some sunshine like that is brought into the world?" He stood up and went to the window. "I've done enough hogging." He looked out of the window and Piper followed, while Jasper and Henry took their spots on each side of Charlotte and she watched Piper try to console Ray at the window.

Charlotte sighed and Henry said, "Some of the damage had lasted…" But, he quickly drowned his concerns in Hamilton's face. He and Jasper gushed over him , leaning over Charlotte and each playing with a hand, as she fussed about how neither of them washed theirs before touching him!

Whenever Charlotte and Hamilton came home, Henry loaded everything on his lap to carry inside and as he was rolling to the door, he got a buzz from the President for an assignment. He sighed and ignored it. If she didn't move on to her next option, maybe he'd answer the call.


	32. Are the Non-Supes Alright?

_Excuse the format. I'm posting from my phone. Will edit later if necessary._

 **Are the Non-Supes Alright?**

Charlotte and Henry ordered a Calamondin orange tree to commemorate Hamilton's arrival. Henry placed it in their home on the day of his son's birth, August 25th, while Charlotte found some crystals and crystal decor for August - peridot, sardonyx, and spinel, which she had Henry put into his nursery in certain places that she chose. When they brought the baby home, Henry also had gladiolus flowers and poppies - August's birth flowers as the new seasonal indoor flowers.

When they brought Hamilton home, he was integrated into the very fabric of the Charteau, and Henry was so in love that he rarely wanted to do anything but love on him. Charlotte loved to see it, and having a counterpart with superfast reflexes to change diapers and do housework was excellent.

Meanwhile, she was finally able to try out some new baby-centric inventions that she had created, including a sensory baby bundle blanket. She'd bundle Hammy up in that thing and for hours, it would let her know via vibration on the sensor, connected to her when he needed to feed, be changed, or receive human contact. The sensor was also a monitor, so she could hear him, wherever she was in the house (her lab mostly), and it reported to her when and if he was asleep. So far, it was working like a charm.

.

"As president of the Hero League, this indirectly means that you are the president of those with superpowers…"

"It's not quite as simple as that. I'm not in charge of these people. They are American citizens, or Canadian citizens, Russian, German, whatever their country of origin, there is a president or prime minister or royal who is at the head of their government, and that is the government and those are the laws that they love under. I direct licensed superpowers individuals, whether or not laws are created for us and our well-being with all of the special circumstances, on missions to keep multiple countries safe. That includes this one. You're welcome."

"Did you not let several terrorists go?"

"I've never "let" terrorists go. Just like America has battled with terrorists, the Hero League has, as well and trust me, our turn around time has been stellar in comparison to the nation's."

"That sounds unpatriotic."

"It's simply factual."

Multiple leaders were calling for the removal of the president of the Hero League following the death of Mischief Minder, other heroes/rogues on the scene, the Gwenlings that couldn't be non fatally subdued in the battle and millions of dollars in damages.

"Do you think it was a poor choice to bring superpowered fugitives into the battle?"

"I stand by every choice I made. Period. No. Further. Questions."

She turned off the press conference coverage and set her remote control down. "The people are ready to riot," Simone said. She was helping to fill in while Charlotte was on maternity leave. "Maybe you should think of who you would want to appoint to your office next.

"I shouldn't have to give up my office… There is not a single subper politician who could or would do a better job than I have with this incident."

"I think that pardoning the destroyer of Kid Danger has made them drastically distrust that fact."

"I'm a woman of my word."

"Captain Man has been very openly vocal that he doesn't agree with that word and if you're going to last, you'll need his endorsement. It's now two of his sidekicks taken out because of Max and he won't easily turn. I say use Charlotte. He's soft for her. Otherwise, my children get to continue to live in the same shadows we had to be in before you pardoned us." Simone hugged her mother and left her to think about her advice.

.

When Hamilton was old enough to finally go out into the world, Charlotte and Henry brought him for his first visit to his grandparents' condo.

It started fun and light, until of course, Mrs. Page had to ask, "Charlotte, you're not going back to work for that incompetent superpresident, are you?" Henry smiled awkwardly and jiggled Hammy's belly. Charlotte frowned. "It's just that… well, she FREED the maniac that did this to Henry," she gestured at the chair. "Swellview lost another great hero with the fall of Mischief Minder and… other people you care about could have been seriously hurt or worst, too."

She knew that to mean Piper. They never talked about knowing that Piper was Lady Danger, but sometimes the parents would sort of talk around it. "Well, mom. I'm only on maternity leave and I have no reason not to support President Kickbutt, considering that I am and was a part of her "incompetent" decisions. So, yes, I will be returning to work, as planned."

She looked right at her son-in-law and wondered, "And you're alright with it?"

Henry smiled softly and said, "Team Henlotte is always on the same page, Mama Es."

"I thought that maybe after a few weeks as parents you'd understand how important it is to stay safe. That woman has a target on her back. You hate to see it, but that's just the facts. I don't want a target on your back just for being next to her. What kind of a name is Kickbutt anyway?"

"Supes often have names reflective of their power. Sometimes it's legal. Sometimes, it's simply the name that they're known as. She was born a super, so I don't know," Charlotte said, ignoring all of the rest of that.

"Well, I just think they need to find their own space and stay in it and leave us out. There should be a super who's qualified to deal with their kind who your job could go to."

"Wow," Charlotte said at the same time that Henry said, "Yikes." He collected Hamilton and rolled off, knowing how this conversation had to go, knowing his wife.

Charlotte chuckled and said, "Let me first remind you that Henry is a super. He has hypermotility. I know that he wasn't born that way, but it's now a part of his identity and his DNA. Which brings me to my second point that I think you can understand as a doctor, that means that there's a chance that our children may carry such genes. I'd better never catch you spewing anti-super rhetoric in front of Hamilton, one way or the other. Last… I'm a super." Esmeralda gasped and Charlotte raised both of her hands, "Something that Dr. Minyak and the woman that you know as Mischief Minder did to me when I was 14 and it laid dormant until a few years ago. But. Keep. Thinking. That you somehow are an expert on this and that you could teach me a thing or two. Don't go chasing waterfalls, Mom. You've got a specialty. This isn't it." Charlotte snatched Hamilton's bottle from the counter and stormed out of the room to go find Henry. "Hey. Sensor says the kiddo is hungry." She handed over the bottle.

Henry began to feed their son and wondered, "You okay?"

"Not the way I wanted to unmask to my folks, but if Hammy has the gene, I'd rather deal with her prejudice now than to wait until he's manifesting." But, even though she had just tore her mother a new one about supered identification, she secretly hoped and prayed that Hamilton wasn't one. It just… would be so hard to come into life as they all knew it, changing, and having to grow up during those volatile times of society.

.

Simone tried to cover up her green veins, but the potency of Gwen's transformation made it impossible to cover and the minor job it did didn't even last long. She went over it with red hues, hoping to cancel it out and that simply made her look more odd. So, she covered up from neck to toes if she needed to go out in public and threw her hair into a tam hat. She draped a scarf around herself and always wore sunshades for the glowing glints of green in her eyes. It wasn't cold enough yet for this, but that was better than some of the news that she had been hearing about the "greeners."

Quite frankly, she was sick of all of the names for them. Gwenbeasts. Gaiabeasts. Greeners. None of those things were flattering and honestly, it was unfair as not one transformed victim had asked for this from Gaia. They were targeted or got in her way and now, they were somehow demonized, not even because they looked like freaks, which they unfortunately did. They were being demonized because even if they weren't supers before that cursed touch, they certainly were now.

Those who had been cured would never fully be who they once were. Simone could hardly look at herself in the mirror. If she were in a comic book or something - she'd be gorgeous. Her same beautiful body, with some nicely greened veins, a streak of green in her hair and those glints in her eyes - perfect "I'd do that alien" (in a sci-fi series) combination. In real life? Even when she was all covered up, people were startled when they noticed her traits. What was worst, she was recognizable.

She was recognizable as a greener. She was recognizable as a super, as one of the VForce fugitives, as one of Thunderman's "terrorists," and as the daughter of the President of the Hero League… who was currently one of the most hated women in the country. The shit just wasn't fair.

"Hey, Charlotte. It's Simone. I was wondering if you could do the administration a huge favor?" Charlotte smiled awkwardly at Simone on the screen as she was working in her lab with Hamilton in a carrier on her chest. "I know that you have a lot going on, but your friend Captain Man has been very vocally against my mother's position and I think that has been a very big portion in the non-pows or non-supes, or whatever term you prefer, not trusting her."

"What is it that you think I can do about Captain Man's opinion of your mom?"

"Convince him that his stance hurts all of us. He may be indestructible, but you know who isn't? Our children. And they're the ones who'll ultimately suffer if a war breaks out between us and the sub...s… The non-supes. You have to get that man to see reason. They're already beginning attacks against people. Unmasking them. Attacking them. Do you know what happens when a non-supe attacks one of us and we have to defend ourselves? Charges automatically are elevated to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A deadly weapon. Our DNA, Charlotte! Yesterday, a New York prosecutor brought these charges against a 14 year old boy who had been being bullied for weeks since they found out about his mask. Do you know what he can do? He can see atoms and molecules that make up things. How is that a weapon? Or aggravated assault?"

Charlotte nodded her head and said, "I'll talk to Captain Man. I can't make you any promises."

"Thank you. I appreciate that. I wasn't sure if you were with us or not."

Charlotte tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

"It's just that neither you nor your husband were born supes and your kid seems non. It.. doesn't affect you as much and you hate even admitting that you have a superpower…"

"I didn't ask for this," Charlotte said. "This was done to me. So, no.. I'm not elated to tell people how someone kidnapped me and turned me into a deadly weapon. Even my own mother looked at me like a stranger. It's not like I'm unscathed in the scheme of things."

Simone's eyes narrowed and Charlotte could tell that there were some unkind thoughts behind them, but Simone simply said, "Of course not. They don't make exceptions when they begin the culling. At least your boy appears to be healthy and will likely be safe." They ended the call and Charlotte bit her lip and wondered why she had felt it necessary to speak about her problems whenever, compared to Simone's, they were mild inconveniences. Yes, she would and could suffer as a super, but that woman had a husband and mother that the world wanted dead. She stuck out no matter what she tried and on top of one of her two daughters being challenged with abnormal abilities, both kids were also supers. Charlotte had been thankful not to be Simone, on more than one occasion. Now, she felt like an ass for acting like Simone should have taken her oppression more seriously. Charlotte was one of the lucky ones, so far. God only knew how things were going for Simone since the battle.

.

When Henry's birthday came around, Swellview threw a party. Kid Danger Day, it was. And Swellview was a good place, because Swellview had "good supers" to protect it and their greatest hero was a non-pow. Lady Danger gave the commencement of the Kid Danger Day festivities. "I didn't get a chance to work with Kid Danger, but it was definitely his work that helped me to realize that this is what I wanted to do with my life. And now, these years later, we no longer memorialize him, but we're still grateful to Swellview's favorite sidekick, Kid Danger, aka Henry Hart…"

Henry rolled up to the podium and she handed him the microphone, "Hey, Swellview. It's good to be home. Though, my home is full of new baby cheer and beautiful wife presence. This place will always be special to us. This is where I met Captain Man. This is where I was able to become a hero. This is also unfortunately where I fell from grace."

"Curse Max Thunderman!" Someone yelled from the crowd.

"No, no. I know it may be hard to believe, but I have no grudge with him. I watched, just like everyone else did how he tried to make good on defeating Gaia, the Chemist. We lost a Swellview heroine that day, but from where I was watching, a hero was reborn in Max Thunderman and I wish he and his family well. I support President Kickbutt's decision to pardon he and all those who were there, putting their lives on the line to restore peace."

There was some clamor about it and someone jeered, "You're saying that because your wife is her lackey!"

Henry scoffed and wondered, "Who the fuck said that?" People gasped at his language and Captain Man and Lady Danger came back to safely see him off of the stage.

"He's a super, too. We should have known he'd side with them! Boo Kid Danger! Boooo!"

Lady Danger snatched the microphone and said, "Look! You don't have to agree with Henry Hart, but today is Kid Danger day and you WILL respect him! Or you'll have to deal with ME!" She dropped the mic and followed Henry down the ramp as Captain Man tried to calm the citizens down. Lady Danger said, "You could have warned us that you were gonna endorse her."

"Well, since Captain Man refuses to, I had to try."

"And publicly forgiving Max? Not even his parents will do that."

"Well… they didn't see him that day. They didn't see how hard he tried to make it right. They didn't see how hurt he was to face those damages. I don't regret…" Henry was hit in the head with a flying bottle and knocked out of the chair. Lady Danger quickly rushed after the culprit and as Henry tried to get back to his chair, a masked mob jumped him. He almost got up to fight back, but.. remembered his cover and just shielded his face. Charlotte was gonna be upset about this…

But, one guy flew halfway across the park, another in another direction and finally, Pagemaster picked up the third by the collar and lifted him into the air, "You tell your weak little buddies that Henry Hart still has super friends. Don't play yourself like this again." She tossed him too, then grabbed Henry's chair and put him back in it.

"Where's Hammy?"

"With his Sirenana. Duh." She kneeled in front of him and wondered, "You okay?" He nodded. "Meet you at your mama," she said and dashed away to change back as he rolled around to find Siren. Siren had Hammy clutched tightly to her, scared that one of these mongrels might grab him just for being Henry's. "Henry!" She said when he reached her at almost the same time Charlotte came back.

"Let's get out of here," he said. On the way to the vehicle, he held his ribs. "I might need to hit the Man Cave. I think I cracked a rib."

"Interface says you cracked three," Charlotte said, pointing to the alert glowing in his arm. He sighed. "Great. I wanted generous helpings of birthday sex." He tried to smile at Charlotte. She was clearly not in the mood for making light of any of this.

"I can't believe how easily they turned on Kid Danger!" Siren said as she secured Hammy in the seat next to her.

"They didn't, Mom. They're turning on the supers."

"That's not right. Shouldn't they at least give you a chance to do something wrong? Or is it enough to disagree with someone's politics to try to stomp their bones in?"

"Whenever the politics can affect life and death… people get really invested," Charlotte said. She held her head and said, "I can't believe that you just got attacked at your own event for not holding a grudge."

.

"Release the registry! Release the registry!" The protestors were chanting as Charlotte came back to work, escorted by guards. They had been demanding that President Kickbutt release to the government the identities of superpowered individuals she had, and at various government buildings demanding that they introduce a bill to force supers to register.

Charlotte's first day back was after Thanksgiving weekend. Things had changed greatly. Simone was at headquarters a lot and dispatching extractions to safely move supes into havens after "incidents."

Max was now working as the League speaker, basically so that if assassination attempts were to be made, they would be aimed at him and not at his mother-in-law. He was more equipped to dodge attacks and also one of the main reasons she was under so much fire.

"I'm resigning," she told Charlotte, the moment that she walked in. "I've spoken with the President of the country and Max will officially announce it at the next press conference."

"Who's going to be president of the Superhero League?" Charlotte wondered.

"It's time for another vote. The President selected his candidate and well, I've nominated Simone."

Charlotte nodded her head and said, "Then, I need to get started on the campaign management, right away…"

"I'm her campaign manager," President Kickbutt said.

"Right. I'll get to my office and see what type of tactical operations I need to…"

"Charls…" Max started. She looked around at these solemn faces wondering what was going on. "The President selected you as Simone's opposition. Therefore, before announcing President Kickbutt's resignation, we'll have to ask you to pack your office. We can no longer have you within this administration."

"But.. I don't even want to be president of the Hero League."

"Maybe not. But if the non-supes see you as someone that they can trust in that office, we can't help but to see you as someone who we can't," Max told her.

"You're joking. You, of all people, can't trust me?"

"No, not him, Charlotte. This administration." Simone said. "Whoever inherits this position inherits this upcoming war. If your subper president thinks you're a good candidate, that just means that the government thinks you can be used for them. I can't have anyone on my team that is backed by an organization, an institution as corrupt as the American government."

"This is an unlawful termination."

"Take me to court. That'll be the least of my worries this year," Simone said. "Mr. Thunderman, if you could see Mrs. Page out?"

Charlotte and Max headed for her office, "This isn't right, and you know it!"

"I'm not fond of it. But, if I have to choose between you and my wife, I choose her."

"Tell her that she's making a mistake! She keeps me in her corner, on her team and the President chooses someone else and she has ME. She pushes me out, I'm still not running for Hero League president, and she loses me."

"I'm not gonna try to debate a decision she's already made, Charlotte. I just got back on good terms with her. I spent months separated from my family.."

"Months? Because I seem to remember some pretty hard months of separation too! Caused by you. And I still went to bwt for you when it mattered and made sense!"

"You had less to lose! Simone and the girls are all I have… and she doesn't want you here. I'm sorry. But, as you are a registered superhero, you can still practice on a team of your choosing. You get to work with Henry again, if you want."

"You think that Henry is gonna accept League assignments after the way I'm being treated?"

"Right. You haven't been told. One of the conditions of Evelyn's resignation is that her replacement is in charge of all hero commissions. Independent and individual licenses, including your beloved Captain Man's will be relegated to Hero League services."

"The Hero League is gonna be in charge of all the heroes in the country."

"For now. At some point, the world."

"What? You think that this is gonna blow up globally?"

"Don't you?" He nudged his head out of the window at the protestors and the guards. It was practically a riot.

"In that case, I will run." Charlotte said. "Can't trust Simone with stakes that high. She's a terrible strategist. I know because she's fired her best." She walked off and Max smiled a little. This ought to be interesting.


	33. Symbiosis VS Survival

**Symbiosis VS Survival**

Charlotte tried to avoid speaking with any media circuits about her termination or her bid for the Hero League presidency. Instead, she simply prepared to campaign in between breastfeeding a very seemingly aware Hamilton Henry Page. The baby was studying everything around him, especially whenever she was in her home lab, trying to blow off steam of having a firing on her record now and trying not to cuss about Simone Thunderman basically turning on her after everything that she had tried to do for that woman!

She was distracted by her thoughts whenever Hammy began to try to reach for something on her desk and she was muttering to herself about how embarrassing that whole situation was and how infuriating. Didn't she realize that she and Charlotte were on the same side? Charlotte could help her! She could even possibly see her point, if she wasn't so dang angry and bitter… She turned to see Hammy messing with her prototype for self warming nipples for the bottles and she quickly snatched them and him up. "No, no. That's Mommy's work. Might have to depend on inventions, at this rate." She sighed and put into his pouch, using just one hand cupped under his butt. She _loved_ her super strength now. Remembering how heavy babies used to seem after a while. She smiled and placed the nipples back into the storage, then left the lab.

Henry and Jasper were watching Simone at a press conference whenever she walked up behind them.

"Some people would have you to believe that all men are created equal. They give you false history lessons and built upon the lies of the victorious of all the war and bloodshed left in the wake of colonizers, who took this land from a civilization that had already been established. And centuries after the genocide, that civilization, those cultures, those tribes, and their heritage is all a whisper of a shadow of itself. Be that as it was, some schools still teach the myth of The First Thanksgiving. As though there was an agreement. As though their demise was an act of synergy. As though they had made an agreement, saw eye to eye and decided that the manifest destiny put into place and the ethnic cleansing and resulting forced assimilation was the plan." Simone scoffed and shook her head. "Now, I'm not mad at Charlotte Page for wanting to do the most seemingly peaceful thing and cooperate with the non-supes. But, let me pose this question… how does that help _everyone?"_

Everyone in the room pondered on it while she took a moment of silence. She cleared her throat and interrupted their thoughts, "Since all of you are here, I can only guess that you actually care about what I have to say. So let me tell you what I think! I I think that they're going to do what they want and we don't need to give them any help. the non-powered want us to register our powers and make it known to the government who can do what. Charlotte believes that they'll take that information to avoid things like Donovan Domain, the boy you may know for being charged with aggravated assault because of his molecules ability. I'm. Not. Buying. It. They'll take that information to cage up people like me and my family, who they will deem dangerous and if that happens - and they're attacked for it, we'll have given them everything that they'll need to crush us and have no allies outside of the community to keep our civilization afloat.

Non-powered superheroes already have a complex when working alongside or under our authority. The trust already isn't quite there. If something were to take place if the citizens put pressure on their heroes, their loyalties would be with the non-powered collective, ultimately. The only way that this would work, would be if they could be trusted. And I've already given a pretty significant example of how they cannot. If you don't think so, ask any remnant of Native American people how much help they are given or respect that they have in this current world. See if anything has changed for the best for them. Survival Matters. OUR Survival MATTERS!" People in the crowd cheered and she raised both of her fists into the air.

"What does she think this is, Wrestlemania?" Charlotte asked, startling her men. Henry quickly turned the TV off.

Jasper shrugged his shoulders and admitted, "I get her point, though."

"She's going to get people hurt," Charlotte said. "She's coming across like a militant and a superpower supremacist.

"She's a more relatable candidate for the superpower community," Jasper said. Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not saying that you wouldn't be good. Does she had less morals than you? Yes, plus Max's deviousness in her corner makes me nervous, but her platform of survival of this current backlash has merit." He shook his head, "I mean, if I was a super, in this climate, post Gwen, I would feel safer with her representing my interests."

Charlotte rolled her eyes and said, "All she's representing is her fury that she has no options outside of superhero or super politics because of her upbringing. Simone is only in the race out of rage and bitterness!"

"That's something that many supers are currently feeling!" Jasper said. "They're being treated like enemies of the state just being special! That's unacceptable and she should be outraged. I think that you should be, too."

"I AM outraged with how people are being treated. But, why fuel the fires? Why not try to come up with solutions to them, instead?" She shook her head and walked out of the room again, with Hammy in the pouch.

In her mind if they refused to comply with the non-pows, they look like they've got something to hide and the non-powered will feel justified in attacking them and making laws to specifically target and oppress them.

Supers already register with the hero League to use their powers. Touching base with non-powered government may be a good way to just keep them calm about powered affairs. As long as identities don't become public record there's no reason not to cooperate with government officials...

"I firmly believe in the importance of secret identities and I loathe unauthorized unmasking. It's a huge part of my brand as the Creator and founder of both FaceMask and SoulDates…" The reporters circling her clamored about whenever she said this. Mr. Danger turned to look at her suddenly, surprised by her saying that to the reporters and unmasking this way, in front of the world! "Excuse me, but I have a debate to prepare for," She said, with a smile. "I'll be releasing an official unmasking statement shortly, with the verification that I am who I claim to be. I am Pagemaster, creator of those sites and actual superhero, in my own rite."

As he escorted her away, he wondered, "What did you just do?"

"Let them know that I'm not just some non-supe trying to push them out of their spaces, but one of them."

"The correct answer is put a huge target on your back!" He snapped and shook his head.

"Well, that too, but… I'll have that if I win. I might as well show everyone who I truly am for this election." When they were alone, he collected her into an embrace and held her tight.

"I don't like it. I don't like the thought of it and I don't like that you surprised me with it."

"Well… I didn't want you to try to get in my way. Henry, you put your life on the line all of the time. I have a mission, too." She pressed her forehead against him, "I just hope that Hammy is alright after all of this."

The Charlotte Page for Hero League President reported, "Faithfully heroic since age 13, as one of the technical support staff for Captain Man, Charlotte Page has never been charged with or accused of treason, never a fugitive of justice, or suspected as a terrorist." She winced at the words. " Her platform is based on values equality and equity. She is willing to fight for supers but also willing to work with non-supers to do so, unmasking for the greater good and to show her seriousness in this race."

In real life, she said, "Simone is gonna lose her shit when she sees this."

Henry shrugged his shoulders and commented, "Even when we bitter and angry with them, you still did what was right for them. So, you know… Simone can go to hell." She nodded her head and reached for Hammy from him. The baby was excited to return to his mother's arms. "He misses you when you're on the road."

"You mean he misses _us._ Because, this campaign has been taking both of us away from him, since you insist on Mr. Danger being my security detail."

"I'm just gonna let my wife enter all those dangerous spaces without me having her back?"

"Yeah. You're supposed to be my house husband. You should be at the house with our baby. In fact, while I'm running for this position, I feel like you not watching the baby may make me look like a bad candidate!"

"You're running for super politics. Only non-supes get caught up in stupid stuff like that." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "At least bring the Man Cave with you?"

"They have superhero assignments in Swellview."

"Piper doesn't. Simone suspended non-pow licenses until further notice."

"WHAT? She can't do that!"

"She is the acting President, so she absolutely can." They heard the sound of his alert for an assignment and he sighed, "And, I'm guessing that she's seen your commercial, because I suddenly have an assignment." He got up from the chair, kissed her on the temple and kissed Hammy on the forehead before heading to the secret exit for work.

"Symbiosis," Charlotte's policy for powered/non-pow relations would involve a non-powered superhero delegation to cooperate with powered superheroes for registration of powers and monitoring the safety of registered supers without hero assignments. Each faction would have a super and non-super representative and they would be there for checks and balances. Simone strongly believed the supers have been wronged and it would only get worse with a sympathetic candidate like Charlotte Page, so she felt it was her duty to rake Charlotte and "supes like these" across the coals.

During the debate, she asked Charlotte, "What did you want to be when you grew up?"

"You're not the one asking the questions!" Charlotte complained. But, something in the smugness of Simone's facial expression told her that the supers in the room would somehow count this reply against Charlotte, so she sighed and indulged her, "When I was little, I wanted to be a lot of different things, and president was actually one of them."

"What was the response?" Simone asked next. "From your parents, teachers and mentors?"

"That I could do anything or be anything that I wanted to be."

Simone nodded her head and she looked over at her mother and her children. "I wish that it was that easy for some of the rest of us. You might not know this, but I am a very talented and skilled dancer," Simone claimed.

"I do know this. I've seen you on the battlefield and your movements are very much like a dancer's. Very beautiful," Charlotte said, wishing she hurry up and got to her point.

"I wanted to be a dancer when I grew up, and I'm sure at least half of the supers in the building can relate when I say, there was no way." Many of them nodded. "Nobody was going to encourage me. Me? The girl with the legs strong enough to kick somebody to death? No. Whenever we have these gifts from an early age, especially from birth, we get to learn pretty quickly that there are certain areas of the world where we aren't accepted. There are benefits of the doubt that we aren't given. There is prejudice against us that we receive upon arrival. Hate to be that person, but let's take your campaign commercial for example. You insinuate that you're a better candidate because you've never been on the run, or a fugitive. You said this in reference to me, as your opponent, but didn't even think about the 70 people who were on the run, not because they did anything wrong, but because the subper government was _treating them_ like they had done something wrong."

"That's a slur."

"If I'm capable of affecting a system that treats school shooters and mass murderers better than it treats children with abilities and no sin with a word or two, I will use them every time I talk," Simone said with a shrug. "Whether it's in reference to the subpers who threaten the lives of my twins or symbos like you, Candidate Page." Simone smiled at her and Charlotte remembered thinking how she was still somehow so beautiful, even with her greenish hue. Simone was one of those girls who was pretty all her life and never cared, because she was too busy focusing on everything that she didn't have.

Charlotte winced at the word and said, "Well, it makes me feel some type of way that you, as a Black woman would try to harm me with such words. Symbo sounds so much like sambo that I can't help but think of those horrid caricature images whenever you say it. So, you do win in that I am deeply affected by your usage of these slurs."

Simone smiled tightly and said, "You know, whenever my mother gave me "the talk," and I'm not talking about the birds and the bees, but the being Black one…" she chuckled, "I remember thinking about how bad it all sounded. Police profiling, angry Black woman stereotypes, slurs with history of violence, hate crimes as long as our history here, and the everlasting effects in our DNA… And I was horrified to find that there was a part 2. One that you didn't need to have, because you only had one of these particular problems at the talk age and your mother didn't even know about part 2 until recently… Part 2 is the Being super talk. Imagine being 6 and knowing that you're special, but having to be separated from the so-called normal people, in case they decided to hurt you. Imagine losing your father to hero life as a child, but also being told that you someday had to go into hero life, too. Because, you just couldn't be where the non-supes were. If they found out, it could ruin so many lives, most importantly, possibly yours. It doesn't matter if you're good. It doesn't matter if you're nice. You have to keep yourself shielded, your identity a secret… and you can't…" She sniffled, "Be a dancer, because that's for non-super girls. You're special. You're super. You're going to have to be a hero, because if you aren't and they find out that you can do what you can do, you'll be considered dangerous. 70 people found that out firsthand when they were targeted for ever having been Max's friend. Girl, I'm Black AND I have a superpower, so don't think you'll guilt me into feeling bad for you for cooning it up, sambo style with the subpers. Symbo is a perfect name for you. Goes well with your song and dance for the non-supes." She crossed her hands over each other on the podium and smiled at Charlotte.

Charlotte was hurt and furious at how unapologetic she was. But, whenever someone didn't think that they were wrong, they weren't apologetic. And Simone believed that she was right. Honestly, Charlotte saw her point on some things, but her way about it - Charlotte knew was dangerous. Charlotte didn't consider herself a fake person, but she knew that sometimes she had to play smarter, not harder.

"Well, I feel sorry for you, Simone. Because, at the end of the day, whether or not you make good points and whether or not people agree with you, you can't do all things by yourself. Before I came to work as your predeccessor's assistant, I researched her. I used the Metroburg resources, so that I could have access to actual information of her life and career. She had a lot of battles and a lot of politics to go through in order to do her job. Whenever she lost her husband, she had to resume working, had to keep moving forward and I remember thinking, at that time, "It's a wonder that her daughter turned out okay." Simone blinked a little, but her poker face was still on. Charlotte continued. "You were the first person I met. They told me that you were hard to impress and to have my guard up and my wits about me. But, five minutes into our meeting, you asked me, "You okay, Sis?" And, I remember thinking - I'll bet that they tagged a label on her. Because, you and I both know that it happens. A Black woman does anything unsavory in this country and she's seen as angry, bitter, mean, rude, and every other synonym for it. You weren't any of that. You were simply careful about who to trust and diligent about who you let into your mother's space. I respected that so much. I respected you. But, you've been worn down since then. This country, this world, the non-supes, the being on the run - all of it has broken you down to where you've finally become the mad girl that they tried to make you out to be. Add to that what Gwen did and how they now see you as the monster that they always thought you were, and…"

Simone charged at Charlotte, but Max nonchalantly forced her back. She caught herself and balled her fists. "I don't need you to feel bad or good for me, Girl. What I need is to know that the world that I leave behind to my children is better than the one that I grew up in. You think bringing up my mom not being as involved as I wanted her to be, or losing my dad at a young age or any of that is gonna make me want to quit? Child, that makes me do this! You think you can feign solidarity with me because of race or power level? You had a Black two parent household in non-pow society for you entire childhood. Your parents CHOSE to live in Swellview, where you didn't have other little Black girls around you. You didn't get to find this innerBlackness that you act like will bind us together until college, and you didn't have your little manufactured superpower until jr. high. But. You're smart. You're a genius. You can do anything. So, with the privilege you've had in your life, people THINK you're a good one. They THINK that because you been around whites and normies your whole life, you're the safe super solution." Simone was crying in front of everybody now, angry tears, "Whenever you left my office, after I fired you, you admitted that you don't even GIVE a fuck about this position. You're just running against me to try to be able to take another thing away from me, because I took ONE thing away from you that I didn't believe that I could trust you with. I fired you for what I told you I fired you for. You ran against me out of spite. You even said you'd have helped me if I wouldn't be firing you, but now you stand up here, acting like you're for us, Sus? You're for Charlotte. You've always been for Charlotte. Unfortunately for the rest of us, what's good for Charlotte can't be what works for the entire super community. We were born like this. Raised like this. OUR CHILDREN are like this. You. Are. a subper who found a power, buried it, accidentally used it, hid it, and didn't let people know about it until you thought it might help you to beat me. You're not a friend. You're not a sister. You're an opportunist and this election is just a chess move for you. So, if you win… I honestly hope that the job does to you what I know that the job does to people, what I am prepared to do because I might have to. I hope that you're as great as it as my mother was and that your little non-pow son gets to know that there are just things that matter more in this world than self. Because, subpers never learn that lesson. They never have to. And I guess you symbos won't either. Hundreds of years later when we're in the one digit percentile and historians speak about this day, you'll be regarded as the thing you didn't ever have to be and only ever did whenever it suited you - a hero. So, good luck, Charlotte, on this election. I hope it's worth it to you, to your desires for you to win this."

There was cheering from all over the building and some booing, and heroes and law enforcement trying to calm everyone down. SImone had checked out. Max came to bring her some tissue and see if she wanted to leave. He hoped that breakdown meant that she was giving this battle up, but she simply hugged him and patted him on the chest, gave him a simple jerk of the head to ask him to go and looked at Charlotte for her response. Simone had broken down before, and in front of an audience. That wasn't something that she was proud of, but it wasn't something that made her run away scared, either. There was simply too much on the line for that.

Charlotte cleared her throat, drank some water, kept herself from crying, as well. Because, truth be told, she always felt bad for Simone. She always cared about her and she always wanted the best for her. She wasn't quite sure before now why Simone didn't feel the same way about her, but that outburst gave her more clarity on it all. "My privilege is something that I can use for us, not something that I would ever use against you. My record is impeccable. I'm a trustworthy person. I never make a promise on false intent. I've never done anything dishonestly, or plotted with malicious intent." She turned from Simone. She couldn't stand to look at her right now. She was never going to win her over, that was clear. But, while she did have some points, if Charlotte had the chance to examine herself, one thing that Charlotte did know was that despite being in the election against her first choice, she wasn't taking it any less seriously. Simone was right. These people were important. This job was important and mattered more than any one individual. Yes, Charlotte was a very self-centered person in her daily life, because at the end of the day, she had to be responsible for herself. But, also… if she was to think about what was best for her, the people around her, her newborn son… She had to consider Simone's words, but also the opinion of the people whose support she would need to do the job.

"Maybe you feel like because of all the things in my background that I don't match up with the typical life of a super that you simply can't trust me to have your best interest at heart. Maybe because I have parents who some might deem to be sellouts, or because my mother is a bit of a supers bigot, or that my DNA was altered to even make me into a super and I did use that information as a tactic to sway public opinion; maybe you can't trust me. But can you trust them though?" She didn't look in Simone's direction, as she pointed past her at Max, who was standing up next to the seat where Evelyn was seated with the children, arms folded and smirking. Finally. Charlotte was going to go low. That was what you needed to do with something like this.

"My husband said something to me when I was looking at my campaign commercial and I only just realized it when Simone was reading me into the ground, that's Black girl talk for she really gave it to me." There were a few chuckles. "But, what Henry said to me was something like, even when you were angry and bitter with them, you still tried to do what was best for them. Now, some of you may not have the Internet, or maybe you have lived unplugged, or on a commune or something, so you might not know that my opponent and her husband have some history with me and mine. Now, as I said earlier, I always liked Simone. I didn't have anything against her after I met her. But, she always had something against me, and now I get why. It's understandable. Those are frustrating circumstances that she listed and for every super who feels similar, I understand your pain too." Simone scoffed and looked at Max. He just blinked, still smirking at Charlotte. "For all those who don't know the story, it goes like this. I was a naive, dormant super, who thought I was a non-pow… Who admittedly had a bit of a supes fetish." She winced when she said it. "None of us are perfect. I'm not, not by a longshot. So, I dated Max Thunderman. We broke up and I dated Henry Hart. There was a lot of bad blood and bad energy that resulted in Henry being attacked, comatized, barely surviving, and not being able to use any of his body when he woke up, more than a year later, with amnesia." People were already crying. Some were looking at Henry in his wheelchair, holding their baby. "During his coma, I visited Max, his assailant, to try to figure out if he really had forgotten. I wanted to eventually get an explanation and an apology. A genuine one. He couldn't remember. The two of them were old friends - Max and Simone - and he couldn't remember her either. His siblings asked me to arrange a meeting and out of the kindness of my heart, out of my sympathy for them, I did that." Billy and Nora looked uncomfortable as she looked at them. "And they used that time to plot his escape. I spent time, trying to mentally prepare for him to be allowed to help me possibly help Henry to walk again. When I did, Max, Simone, Billy, Nora and some others used that window for Max's escape. I was the one who got investigated, my good name was dragged through the mud in the super community. They thought I was a no good non-pow who came in just to let out my ex… I don't know what they thought about my relationship with Henry, that I would do that to him, but the point is, we are up to four people in that camp that I tried to be a real friend to, only to be betrayed by them when I did them a kindness." Charlotte's eyes were watering now as she turned back to the audience, "My husband and I were going through something during my pregnancy." (She might have unmasked herself, but she would never do that to someone else, so she didn't let them know about his return to Danger, but continued speaking) "And our home was attacked and he wasn't there. They are the ones who showed up and helped me. I was very emotional, hormonal, confused, but relieved. I felt like maybe they weren't so bad after all and maybe they'd changed and deserved another chance. I went to my boss, then president, and requested that we make some plans to pardon them, with restitution, of course, because I'm empathetic, not pathetic. We made a plan, we formed a team, we enlisted Mr. Danger, Lady Danger, and invited them to work for their freedom. I worked with Mr. Danger to ensure that everyone was safe and on board. I was able to bring together extremists, non-pow hero, supers vets, and new supes. That's where my symbiosis plan really originated. With Team Danger and their mission against Gwen aka The Chemist aka Gaia. It was ultimately successful, though we did lose lives. It was traumatic and moving, but we banded together and we were a team… and just a few months later, those same people turned on me again." She looked right at the Kickbutt-Thunderman collective. "So, I ask the people today, not to trust me, necessarily; though I believe that I'm trustworthy and I know that if given the chance I can prove it. But, can you?" She turned back to the audience and smiled softly, no teeth, sadly even. She was exhausted. She hated every moment of this. How Evelyn did this for years was astounding. She didn't even know how she would feel tomorrow!

The speakers were dismissed and the ballots were sent to both non-pow facilities and supes facilities, but they would reveal their numbers at the same time, so make it impossible to cheat. Well, almost impossible. Max hacked into the system. He stared at the information for a while.

On the one hand, Simone was crying her eyes out, frustrated that Charlotte was going to "beat her again."

"What do you mean again?"

She was shaking and clenched her fists. "Everything. Everything in my life that I wished for, it's just given to her! My mother. My husband. Now, I have to give her my people? She's not one of us! But, because she's so smart and sensitive and has a way with words. I don't even really think she has emotions!" Simone kicked her foot through a wall.

Max waved a hand and set the pieces back in order, then collected her to himself, "She doesn't have your husband. She never did. I was in a bad place and that would've happened with or without her, but… none of us would want me to be that way with you, anyway, right?"

"I just… The things that you were willing to do for her. You would never be willing to do for me."

"I would have qualms about it, because I'm better, but Monie, there is nothing that I wouldn't do for you. It's torture watching you campain and even the thought of you taking this role on, not being there for the girls, being targeted… They tried to assassinate you six times, THIS WEEK! Trust me, this is harder than stringing up some lowlifes and overworking them. The things that I am willing to do for you comes from a place of real love and need." He sniffled, "I'm sorry about when you were in labor. I was selfish, but I knew that we could save you and I thought that they deserved to be able to know you…" They hugged. "I hope that if you win, they still will have a chance to…"

On the other hand, if Simone won, they would always be proving themselves, trying to show everyone that they could trust them, her trying to show everyone that she deserved to beat Charlotte and that she deserved this shit position. Honestly, it was a prison sentence. So, one more time, and he hoped to God she never found out, he made the decision for Simone, and he betrayed Charlotte again.

Whenever they gathered for the results, Max had tried to ask Simone to gracefully bow out, several times. She wasn't raised that way, though. He had to admit, if he did have a type, stubborn was definitely a characteristic, because he could tell from Charlotte's face that she didn't want to be there either. Both of the women shook hands and stood next to each other while a non-pow and a supe representative came forward with the numbers. Charlotte just hoped that they were even, because if anybody cheated, a riot would begin. However, if either of them won, a riot could begin. There were a lot of crazy emotions on both sides and… Hammy started crying. She looked over at him and reflexively wanted to go to him, but realized that right now might not be the best time. Besides, Henry had him. But, one of the Thunderman twin babies reached over and they touched fingertips and held hands and both were smiling and Charlotte remembered something… children don't inherit hate, they were taught it. There was a beautiful example, right in front of her. Policies could be teaching better tolerance, no _acceptance_ of superpowers to non-pow children at earlier ages. Coaches and counselors for kids with powers, so that they would be taught not to misuse them. There were so many more solutions rather than accepting that nonpows needed their information and needed to monitor their people and… "Wait!" Charlotte said. Everyone paused and looked at her. Simone was curious. "Simone… If you win, I know that we said things about each other and about everything, but I really still want to believe that you have goodness and love in you. I'm sorry if I look silly to expect that humankind can find ways to coexist, but… I guess I just hope for the best and work towards it, because the alternative is terrifying and sad. If I'm wrong, I at least want to do everything that I can to make sure that that," she pointed at their babies reaching over their caretakers to touch and laugh, "doesn't turn into this," she pointed between the two of them. Max's eyes were wide and he looked to Simone.

Simone looked at the babies and said, "You know what, Sis.. I'm good. If you win, I know you probably won't want me there, but I would love to work with you again. That last speech had me really looking at myself, like… You honestly did that after this girl tried to have you pardoned and make sure you got to hold your babies before the final battle. But… I still believe what I believe too. In fact… Can I just call you to arrange an appointment with the President to discuss this? I just… I realized that I can't do this job. I can't do it to my children, to my husband, to my mom, nor to you. I don't want to be angry for the rest of my life. I want therapy. I want closure on all the wounds I was opening in front of everyone. And if your being president brings in the apocalypse, then hey, I'll step up then."

Charlotte's eyes were wide now. "You're dropping out of the race?"

"Yeah, Girl. Before they give the counts and embarrass me any further," Simone began walking away and Charlotte scoffed.

"Simone, **I** never wanted this job in the first place!" Charlotte squealed and at this point, everyone present was just confused, entertained, angered or something else while the two women, who had been arguing for weeks about why they should have this job now seemed to be arguing to not have it! The supers and the non-powered people wonder who is going to be the president, if not one of them!

Simone was collecting her babies and gave Hammy a wink. He smiled brightly and giggled. Henry said, "Think he likes you."

"Probably thinks I'm a ninja turtle," Simone said, ignoring Charlotte give her the list of reasons that she couldn't just leave now. But, Simone was smiling for the first time in a while and she was fine by this, until they all heard a loud sound and before anybody could figure out what was going on, Billy was in front of Simone and the girls, Max was lifting someone and their gun into the air and Henry had given the baby to Char's mom and rushed to her. Lady Danger ran to Billy and he was bleeding and holding himself. "No, no, no. Charlotte!" She screamed. Charlotte rushed over and began giving Billy medical attention. Henry heard people discussing him getting out of his chair and he took the time to blow a bubble and suit up. Might as well come full circle. "Henry Page IS Mr. Danger!" Someone yelled. By that time, Max had pulled the shooter to himself and Danger came up behind him. It was the Spoiler.

He was greened now, obviously had been part of Gaia's collective, but he'd just tried to kill Simone Thunderman. Danger said gently to Max, "Don't do it, Bruh. They already think you're a monster."

"He just fired multiple shots at my wife and children…" Max said, barely holding his temper together, choking the Spoiler, "He shot my little brother…"

"You did some things to him," Henry reminded Max. He wished that there was a way to just stop someone from using their powers. Oh! There was! "I don't wanna zap you. Put him down and see if you can help Char with Billy." Max let Spoiler crash to the ground as he listened to Danger's advice. Mr. Danger put cuffs on the Spoiler and wondered, "Why do this, Dude?"

"I was just having fun!" He said. "I get arrested, sent away, for that? For spoiling some fun? Then, I wanted vengeance, and for that, I get taken to a dungeon and tortured? The justice system is stupid and I wanted to see my vengeance through this time."

"You were willing to gun down his family to get that? That would have made you feel better? Shooting a woman and two little girls?"

Spoiler laughed and said, "I shared a consciousness with Simone. I wasn't trying to shoot her. I was trying to shoot the other one. That's the one that Simone thinks he really loves. The one he tortured me for."

"That's old news… Wait… You tried to shoot, _my_ wife?"

Spoiler laughed, "What are you gonna do about it? You haven't done anything to the dude that messed you up…" Mr. Danger picked him up with his enhanced arm and began punching him repeatedly in the face, until eventually the police took the shooter away. He rushed over to where the paramedics were taking Billy. Piper had her mask off and was crying, holding his hand. Was there even damage control for some mess like this?

Charlotte and Simone were talking about what needed to happen next, while the Hero League, the guards, the authorities and everyone joined together to try to safely clear out the civilians, reporters, and such. They were there for hours investigating and surveilling. Apparently the Spoiler hacked in to get in with the weapon, beating metal detectors and such. Charlotte checked the ballots, to see if they were okay. She won by a landslide, but it was inconclusive whether or not the systems were hacked. She sighed. She might never know if people were inherently good, if they really wanted peace and not supremacy. She might never know if they trusted her or Simone more, but one thing that she realized was that no matter how much anger Simone spewed, whenever things got real, her natural response was to be a hero and a leader. She went to her and said, "Hey… I won."

Simone showed a flicker of disappointment, despite the fact that she had dropped out. "Congratulations. I thought that you would."

"I still don't want it."

"You got it now. Blessings."

"I was thinking, someone else. Someone who has people that they love on both sides, works well with supers and nonpows, as long as he's the one who's ultimately in charge. Someone who would let us work for them and be malleable enough to hear out all of the great plans that you and I could come up with, if we worked together."

"Girl, who? Not your husband, because he punched all that shooter's teeth out and I'm tired of rebranding folks…"

"Someone indestructible," Charlotte said.

They looked at Captain Man, who was totally at ease while talking to the cameras, smoothly about the complete and utter mess inside of the facility. "Well, as far as Henry Page lying about being Mr. Danger, of course we lie about these things. It's a _secret_ identity. I'd be more uncomfortable with the those who tell you that they are great figures. Oh, I'm King Tut, I'm Jesus Christ… We lock up people for things like that. Whenever someone unmasks, it becomes a scandal. You did it with Pagemaster, you're doing it with Mr. Danger, and you'll do it with the next hero. It is very dangerous for the loved ones of heroes to let people know who they are, so I fully support the Hart-Page family trying to keep their secrets and I fully support the Kickbutt-Thunderman family in this tragedy that happened. They almost lost someone and you're more focused on secret identities. I ask that we lift up Billy Thunderman in our prayers and good wishes tonight and if you'll excuse me, I want to encourage the ladies who came here to try to receive news and had their lives threatened, instead."

"Hot damn," Simone said.

"Right? He sucks at a lot of stuff, but a politician?"

"He's perfect. He's got the looks and personality… I mean… we're _actually_ gonna be running his office, though, right?"

"Definitely."

"Okay, Yeah. Let's… move forward with that idea, then." Simone agreed. Charlotte reached for her hand, much like she'd seen the babies do earlier, and Simone looked down, hesitant, but then accepted it. She appreciated that Charlotte didn't just grab her hand. She let the choice be up to her, and honestly, that mattered to her. "We have to start working on the damage control of these unmaskings."

"Honestly, Ray will just wanna wipe everyone's memories. We'll have to remind him at least 50 times that it was caught on camera and is therefore on the Internet."

"So… We're co-parenting this guy."

"Yes, but fortunately for you, I've been raising him half my life."


	34. The Man for the Job

_Whenever I started this story, I didn't expect to turn it into a Henry Danger/Thundermans crossover, but since there's not other heroes in the verse and I didn't want to overflood things with OCs, here we are. Thanks for the patience and endurance. My friend said she thought it was gonna be the end at Gwen, but I actually have a few more things to cover before we conclude this journey. Thanks for sticking it out. I know it got rough a time or two. People really hated Henry having amnesia! I hated it too, but of the list of things I was working out, that path was the one that I could use to get where I wanted to get. This chapter is short, that's because I only wanted certain things in it. I'm thinking that there may be another time jump afterwards, though._

 _Edit: I actually didn't mean to use sardonyx, but I couldn't find what I did mean to use, so it's sardonyx, even though that's one of Hammy's birthstones, so Henry would definitely know it by now. Anywhooo..._

 **The Man for the Job**

He had lost a lot. His childhood being the first casualty of gaining a superpower, and most recently, the woman he loved _enough._ He couldn't say for sure that they would have lasted. He'd loved and lost before, but not like that. He'd been the one to end or at least drive away most potential relationships. But… This one was harder to let go of, mainly because he hadn't been prepared to. It reminded him of how fragile everybody around him was. How human.

It could have been any one of them that day. It could be any one of them tomorrow. Every mission was a cause for panic for him and he always had to pretend that he was okay with that. Hell, it was his tagline, for crying out loud. But, he was not okay. He was early years of knowing Piper (when she was merely Henry's sister) NOT OKAY with constantly worrying about them, being out in the field. Now, he had to worry about them being in politics, as well?

It was terrifying to think of what would have become of the Man Cave if Spoiler had actually shot her. She was a young mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, and a public figure. So, while they tried to mourn or tried to help her recover, it would have also been a media storm. He'd done this already with Henry. He'd done this already with Mimi. He. Did. Not. Want. To. Do. This. Anymore. But, what was the alternative? To quit? To retire early and leave Swellview to Piper to defend?

She hadn't left the hospital in days. There was a collective of V-Force heroes guarding Billy Thunderman's room, but she was still there, in her Lady Danger costume with no mask, hoping for the best. They tried to get her to at least go home and get cleaned up. But, she was worried that if she left and something happened, it would be "like that episode of the L Word." Henry brought her a bag of clothes and toiletries, but after crying, pulling herself together, and imagining that Billy moved every time she headed for the shower, she couldn't risk even the few minutes it would take her to get cleaned up.

She had gone through this with Henry. She had gone through this with Mimi. Neither of those times was she able to bear sticking it out and being there with them. She didn't want to do that to Billy. He was a lonely guy. He felt misunderstood and left out. He felt like while he was close to his siblings, being a middle child, he missed a lot of opportunities to connect with them in certain ways. She wanted him to know that there was somebody who felt a connection. She wanted him to have somebody here for him. Maybe she was getting soft. Maybe she had fallen for him. She couldn't really figure that out at the moment, but she couldn't leave, either.

Captain Man was working alone for the time being. Mr. Danger tried to help out, but people took those opportunities to try to come to question him about being Henry Page, about Piper Hart being Lady Danger, and about him being able to walk. At first, he'd try to remind them that they were venturing into an active fight scene. Punching and begging them to leave because he was in the middle of something. They'd refuse and he tried to answer the questions, "Yeah, I'm Henry Page. Sorry. I don't have any excuse for you. I can't speak on Lady Danger. Yeah, I can walk, but I do need braces in order to do what I do. My legs aren't what they used to be, so the chair isn't a _complete_ lie. PLEASE GET OUT OF THE CRIME SCENE!" People continued to do it until Simone and Charlotte decided that it was a hazard to citizens to have Mr. Danger there. They just couldn't help themselves.

Away from Swellview, though, people were less likely to be as concerned, though they were certainly interested in it all. So, Thunder and Danger was generally the go team for missions away from Swellview and the Thunder girls helped Captain Man, when needed. By the time Charlotte looked at overall crime and the distribution of heroes, she decided, "I don't think that Swellview needs a hero."

Simone shook her head and said, "It never has, but it had one because the hero in question was from Swellview and didn't want to travel or relocate. Captain Man's record would be abysmal if he weren't indestructible. So, there was no reason to pressure him onto a team, aside from you'd have an indestructible man on team. He used to be in rotation, but my mom let him have his tenure in Swellview when she came on board, in order to decrease some incidents without making it seem like he was being demoted. What does Lady Danger want to do?"

"She hasn't decided. She's waiting for Billy to wake up. She's getting more and more angry that he isn't and that none of us are there, so I thought that we could maybe send out some VForce to some of these assignments and be sure to gather there for them soon."

"Yeah… I don't think it would be very tactical considering some of the tasks that Danger Force is currently handling, but…" Charlotte gave her an exhausted look and she shrugged and smiled gently, "I'm not gonna argue with you. You've got a knack for finding solutions. And… What has Captain Man said about the offer?"

"I want to ask him when he's not thinking about all of this. He's a simple guy and a lot of complicated stuff has happened lately. I don't want him to feel pressured."

"He's going to be President of the Hero League. There is no other way to feel _but_ pressured."

"Yes, /I/ get that. /You/ get that. But, he's fine with the world burning while he relaxes, if he feels too much under pressure. If it isn't about Swellview, he's not that concerned and even then, sometimes his motivations are questionable. I just want him to be in a receptive headspace when I ask him."

"Listen. The position is unchallenged. After that assassination attempt, none of the political types want the gig. They'd rather die fighting than on stage politicking. And those who would consider it, we'd be placing in danger to even extend the idea. The non-pows are looking at us and thinking that as expected we can't handle issues in the supers community. They might stage a takeover. All of my fears may be realized. In order for that not to happen, I'll ask him," Simone said.

"But… You don't know how to communicate with him. I'm telling you, he's something else…"

Simone opened up the line to connect with him and Charlotte simply threw her hands up in surrender then folded her arms shook her head and gave Simone "the look."

After a moment to transform, he answered the call in the Man Cave. "OH! It's just you two. What's up?" He didn't get this team up. He did realize that sometimes you had to come to an understanding with people that you didn't agree with, but I thought for sure Charlotte would stand her ground with this piece of work. And he couldn't tell whether or not trusting her would be the same as it was for Charlotte trusting her husband years before. He wasn't sure how that made him feel; he only knew he wasn't okay with it.

Simone said, "Captain Man. You have given many years of your life to fight for justice. Through the ups and downs, you remain brave and honest."

"I know this," he said, a bit suspiciously, because he honestly wasn't sure where they were, as a group, with this girl.

First off, she was married to a douche, who he hated. Secondly, she really hurt Charlotte's feelings. Third, he didn't know her very well, but he knew that he didn't like her for those first two very good reasons.

"We need you to do something for us. As you know, less than a week ago, there was an attempt on Mrs. Page's life. The shooter had terrible aim and it was most definitely going to end with me receiving the attempt. My brother-in-law was brave and quick and he threw himself in the line of fire for my sake and the sake of my children. Unfortunately, he isn't indestructible. We have a superpowered healer who made sure that he didn't die while he got medical attention. We're waiting on the news of his recovery."

"Nice of you to say 'as you know,' before telling me everything that I know. Why are you calling me and why isn't Charlotte talking? Did you do something to her?" He was already angry at the thought. Charlotte must have been being held hostage to sit here through whatever this was! But, he noticed Charlotte's amused face and figured something out. Whatever was happening, Charlotte had told her not to do it and she did it anyway. So, he wasn't about to cooperate with little miss Poison Ivy. The only dealings with her would be at the approval of his little Charlotte.

"Captain Man. We need you. Charlotte wanted to do this under other circumstances, but if we wait too long to set things in motion, the non-pows, the supers, the heroes, and most importantly, the villains will think that there is no order, no peace and no plan. We have to act fast, I'm afraid. We need to ask something of you."

"If Charlotte said no, that's the answer," He said.

Charlotte cleared her throat and watched the green veins in Simone's temples flair. "Actually, Captain Man, I wasn't saying "no," I just wanted to do it better than this. But, she is right about it." Now, they sort of had his attention. Charlotte could see that he wanted to at least give her the chance to say her piece, but she could also see that he still wasn't with it. "We need to figure something out as soon as we can, and we think that you're the only person who can help us."

"It was actually her idea!" Simone added. Captain Man was listening, more now. To Charlotte, not to stupid green girl head.

"We need you to take up the mantle of President of the Hero League," Charlotte said, ripping off the bandaid, since Simone had gotten them here. She had a feeling this would be a new component of their future as his presidential staff. He sat down and shook his head. "I know what you're thinking. That sounds like a lot of work. You've got Swellview to think about. You've got a dog to take care of, and a Schwoz in the Man Cave. You've got to make sure that Lady Danger is okay. You can't just leave Swellview to anybody. Swellview is your baby. The Man Cave is you haven. I can see that all those things have been troubling you, especially since you still haven't been given a reasonable amount of time to grieve over Mischief Minder and this is a huge responsibility."

"Glad you understand," Captain Man told her. He was ready to end the call now. Bringing up Mimi was hard whenever he wasn't prepared for it. Charlotte knew that. And now, he wasn't prepared for it and that girl was next to her, looking like she was expecting something from him too. He didn't even know or like that girl! ' _That's right. Direct anger at her. Charlotte means well. Her. She means… green. Mean green. Mean Girls. Wait, what?'_

Charlotte broke into his tangent of panicked thoughts. "I hope that you understand this: We're all going through it, Captain Man. We didn't all lose what you've lost, but you know that I have lost before. You saw me whenever I couldn't wake up Henry and you know that the last thing that I want is to trouble you while you're in the state of mind that you're in. Trust me when I say that all I want to do is go home and cuddle with Hammy, with some ylang ylang firing through the vents and the room at 72 degrees. I want my hair deep conditioned and to get a facial and sit in a steam room and come out and make love to my husband. I want…"

"I get it!" Captain Man said.

"But, I can't do any of that right now. I have to try to fix what was done with Gwen's transformation and the destruction left in her wake, to non-pow and supers relations, to the sanctity of secret identities, to the reputation of the Hero League and to those personally affected and impacted, just trying to make sense of their lives now. You get it and you know. But, what you might not know is that I can't do it without you. How many times have you heard me say that in all the years that you watched me grow up?"

"Why me?" Captain Man asked, tearing up.

"Most importantly, I won't lie to you - your indestructibility is something that we obviously need. People are trying to murder those of us who aspire to this position and you can't be physically harmed that way. But, in addition to that, you're perfect for this, Ray. You know what it's like to be a regular person, even though it's been many years since you were."

"Not that many! I'm not that old!" He fussed.

"You were born a non-pow," she corrected herself. "You became a super early enough that it affected your childhood in a way that supers extremists can relate to. Your non-pow dad exploited you from the moment you had your accident and raised you like some kind of experiment, so you have no reason to trust or like them, but you've been surrounded by them most of your life and they love you now, enough to care about what you say and do. You're very handsome." He smiled at this. "You're charming." He smiled brighter and covered his heart with his hand. "And, you've been a hero with a good standing with the Hero League, and with the city that you serve, and you're recognized nationwide! Remember that time that you saved Double G? He still lets me see shows for free!" They were both smiling and Simone wanted to gush about Captain Man, too, but she had a feeling that might ruin it. He didn't seem that fond of her. "Captain Man, you were like a second dad to me. You gave me my first job. You gave me a recommendation that helped me to be in the position that I'm in today, and I thank you for that. Now, I need you to do a job for me, and you're literally the only person who can. It will be a lot of hard work, but I have your back, always. I promise."

"Okay, then. I'll do it," he said, looking like he was holding back tears. "I've gotta uhh… go to the bathroom, Bye!" He hung up on them and she just knew that he was gonna go cry.

Charlotte looked at Simone and said, "I learned that trick from him, but it's actually an age old saying. You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar."

"An old non-pow saying, I presume? Why would I want to attract flies?" Simone asked.

Charlotte sighed and repeated the phrase into an app she'd been working on in her fired time to translate non-pow specific language to supes language, for all of those who literally grew up around zero of them. The phone recited, "Your heart disarms an opponent much harder than your fists."

"OHHHH!" Simone said and nodded. Then, she thought about it for a moment and defended herself, "I didn't feel like I was being rude to him! I listed all of his accomplishments and the reasons why we needed him."

"Yeah. You didn't say anything about how he looked (his love language) or anything sweet to him, though."

"I can't lie as easily as you," Simone said. "I grew up in Metroburg. I didn't have to be secretive about stuff."

"You planned an entire coup right under your mother's nose."

"She doesn't pay attention to anything I do. I barely had to distract her," Simone shrugged her shoulders, but Charlotte could tell that was still a raw subject, probably especially since not even a week ago, Charlotte was picking at the wound. "Anyway. We have our president, so I'm collecting my babies from the nursery and going home."

"By yourself? Henry and Max are still on assignment… You wanna… You're welcome to stay with Hammy and I…"

"I don't need your pity protection, Charlotte. I can take care of myself and my kids."

"I just didn't want to be alone and since our husbands are working together, I thought… I mean… They could touchdown at my place afterwards and…"

"Okay," Simone said. "Sure. Want me to grab Hammy from the nursery too?"

"If you will. Thanks."

Simone nodded and headed towards the nursery. She wasn't super excited to go to the empty temporary quarters without Max and she wasn't really in the mood to stay at her mom's either, having just thought about how easy it was for her to not pay attention to her while she staged the escape of their most dangerous fugitive. She certainly had a lot of raw feelings about Charlotte, but she had them about Evelyn too, and those were longer.

Besides, Evelyn's home had a guest room. Charlotte's had guest quarters. That was more room and relaxation for the babies and her while they waited for the men. Max and Simone _still_ hadn't been able to find a suitable space, with their history. Simone peeked into the president's office, where Evelyn was there, getting things ready for the next in line. "Hey, Mom… We're gonna crash at Charlotte's into the guys get back. I was headed to the nursery, if you have time to say goodnight to the girls?"

"Of course, I have time!" She said and dropped everything that she was holding. They were in a much better place, but Simone figured she needed super therapy before they'd be "good."

.

Henry nor Max realized how tired they were from all of the traveling and working that they had been doing until they got back to Charlotte's house. A simulated tour guide, which was simply a Henrygram (you remember the hologram that moves about the house) came to collect Max and escort him to the guest quarters, "Where your wife and children are anticipating your arrival, even as they sleep," it said. "Mr. Page. The woman of the house is in the heir's nursery reinforcing his crib."

Henry looked confused by that, but he and Max went their separate ways and whenever he saw Charlotte, her face brightened and she rushed to hug and kiss him. Hammy looked annoyed that she had abandoned her mission to secure his crib. They finished kissing and saying hello, only to look at Hammy and see that he seemed to be finishing the job, himself. "He looks like he knows what he's doing," Henry chuckled.

"Of course he does. He's a genius," she joked and picked the baby up to hand him to Henry. "Say hi to Daddy. Mommy's gonna finish your crib so you can go back to sleep."

"What's wrong with his crib?"

"The sensors didn't pick up his swaddle because some wiring got damaged in the sync device. I'm reinforcing it so that the swaddle doesn't squeeze him too tightly while the crib can't evaluate his vitals."

"You wanna sleep on Daddy while Mommy does smart girl shit?" Henry asked.

"Henry!" Charlotte said.

Hammy laughed and laid against Henry's heart. He was asleep within moments. After they put him back into his crib and swaddled him with Charlotte's perfected perfect swaddle, it was Char's turn to lean against Henry's heart and fall asleep. They had one of those beds that you could pull out of the wall, for nights whenever the Danger life got to them and they just had to be near their precious baby - which was pretty much any time Henry was away for long, or any time that he came home.

There were a lot of things that he hated at the moment - the fact that Simone and Charlotte had been so ugly to each other through the campaign (when they had been on the same page on the mission that set Team Danger in stone), having to be away from his family for so long, knowing that Lady Danger would be taking over Swellview by herself sooner than he felt like she was prepared for (especially with all the ruckus about her unmasking after the election debate), Charlotte going back to work for the Hero League… He made a pillow of his worries and collapsed into them.

Charlotte's interface scanned him and he heard a whirring that made him wake up, panicked. The sound was from an opening in the headboard that pushed out a crystal before shutting and leaving it there. "What is?" he whispered.

And, judging from his whisper, the interface knew that meant he was trying to be quiet, so she also spoke at a low volume, made gentle for sleeping purposes, "Sardonyx provides you the stabilisation and strength required to have the endurance, energy and fortitude to create good fortune based on good moral ethics… Would you like me to continue reading sardonyx facts to help you return to sleep?"

"Yes, please," he said. And so, that happened.

.

Ray got ready to go to the hospital. He had zero attachments to the Thunderman kid. He didn't think that he liked anybody from that brood, at this point. But, if he was going to be President of the Hero League, Charlotte thought that he needed to show the supers that he cared when one of them fell.

The kid had woke up a week after his attack, conveniently when all of his loved ones were present. They said that he'd been ecstatic to find that Lady Danger was THE Piper Hart. They said he kept referring to her as THE Piper Hart. Ray knew one thing - that definitely went to her head. Piper Hart was one of those online personalities that people followed, but didn't necessarily love. She gave a good show, but her ways rubbed people the wrong way and those who knew her before loved getting on the Internet and speaking about how horrible she is in real life. Ray would agree but he had gotten used to it by now.

Still. Most of her love these days came from being Lady Danger. It was nice to have a fan who also had a crush, who knew you as two different people, but knew you as you and as your better self. Ray had that not too long ago…

He made his way to the room with a tray of meatballs. "Here, Kid. This is for you." Billy looked confused as he thanked him. "Piper! You've finally cleaned yourself up!"

She smiled a little and pointed her thumb at him, "This is my boss, Ray."

"Oh!" Billy said. "I thought it was just a friendly meatball man." After a while, he thought about it again. "OH! It's your BOSS!" He looked starstruck, now. Ray patted him on the back and asked, "Mind if I sit?"

"No. This is so cool. You know… You're gonna be the first new official President in my lifetime!"

Ray sat down and nodded. "Kickbutt wasn't president when I became a hero, but she was a pretty good fighter. I worked with your dad before, too."

"Yeah! That's awesome." They talked for a while, then Ray and Piper left and Billy ate his meatballs. Piper didn't comment on how weird of a gift that was because Ray was never any good at that sort of thing. He gave her an autographed photo of himself _after_ she already knew his identity and had been working with him. But, in hindsight, that was an excellent gift, because she sold it for a lot of money.

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way. I was supposed to become an internet sensation, get my degree as I grew in reality TV fame, build up my career and become a household name, marry rich, and be hashtag goals for at least a generation. Kid Danger wasn't supposed to be my brother. I wasn't supposed to become your sidekick, have some of the worst years of my life trying to prove myself to him and failing, get a permanent scar on my face and now have to take over the top hero spot in Swellview AFTER I unmasked in my freaking sophomore year of college? My life is over. I'm not okay." She said it calmly, but he still felt it deeply.

"Yeah, Kid. Me neither," Ray finally admitted out loud to someone.

.

He looked okay. Now that Billy was awake, he healed up quickly and was going to help Piper out in Swellview. He crashed at her place and Jasper asked him several questions. Piper insisted, "My _actual_ brother didn't do all of this!"

Jasper eventually must have been pleased with the responses, because he finally left them alone. "Always gotta humor older siblings," Billy said.

"He's not my sibling," Piper said. "Well… not by blood, anyway." She shrugged her shoulders. "Well... I guess tomorrow we start serving Swellview together."

"We're a good team. It'll be great. My sisters will help whenever we need them."

"My brother tried and was cornered by groups of people who wanted to know his personal life. What if that happens to me?"

"I'll very quickly get them away from you," he said and smiled.

"And you don't mind being the sidekick of someone who hasn't been a hero even a portion of the time that you have and has no superpowers?"

"Well, you've been a leader all of your life. And I've seen you do many amazing things without any powers. Besides MR. DANGER took his wife's last name. Women are who to follow to be honest." She just smiled, and reflexively covered her scar when she did. "You know… you never have to cover that around me. You're not less beautiful because of a battlescar that you won being brave for your team."

She scoffed, "I'd have preferred she slit my throat."

"Not me. Then, we wouldn't have met. Now, we get to see each other every day. I'm grateful she didn't slit your throat." Piper took a deep breath and then lunged forward to give him a quick peck on the lips. She sat back quickly and held her own hands. She used to be able to flirt with the best of them, but since her scar, she had been hiding. She'd been shyer. Billy smiled and reached for her hands. She took his and played with it in both of hers. "We're gonna be fine, M'Lady."

"Thanks for saying that. I think I'm okay now."


	35. The Danger Force Family

**The Danger Force Family**

Four years into the job and Ray still felt like everyday was his first. Charlotte was still feeding him information that he "should know." Simone was still mumbling under her breath whenever he asked an "obvious" question, before just answering it. He was still wondering why the heck he let Charlotte talk him into this. Of course, it was just mornings. He found his footing after a couple of hours and from that moment throughout the day, he remembered who he was and why he was here. Captain President, the President of all Presidents… At least that's what he'd put on his campaign posters and van. Everybody else called him "President Man."

Charlotte was rarely ever on site, considering that she had multibillion dollar apps - SoulDates, FaceMask, and SymBIOsis - her youngest, but most fruitful app which brought supers and non-supes together for social and networking purposes, educated one on the history and cultures of the other, and made public record of the Symbiosis policy and legal decisions regarding it. She had launched a brand of technological baby, toddler, and small child products under the company My Lil' Ham, which specialized in all baby types, and was voted #1 source for supers babies products, as well.

Hamilton, of course was the face of that company. She'd originally began working on products to make his life easier while she and his father rushed around, trying to do all of the things necessary for society to function. As he got older, she expanded the brand. He was now 5 and looking more like his father all of the time… but _being_ more like his mother.

He didn't talk much, even though he could do so and do it well. The best way to get him speaking was to mention science or math. Then, getting him to stop talking was your issue. Unless of course, he realized that he was smarter than you. Then, he lost interest. He wanted to passionately discuss science and math with his mental peers. They hadn't really determined who that was, yet. It certainly wasn't the kids (or the teachers) at his first school, the kids at the institute that they sent him to after every teacher in the building tried to teach him and insisted that he was simply too advanced for their classroom, and it wasn't his father. Charlotte had to reign him in multiple times for speaking down to Henry (though she'd wait until Henry was out of earshot), because fortunately, since Hammy was so young and not as expressive as a lot of children, Henry never could tell that he was being condescending. They tried to enter him into several programs, before Max suggested that he go to a prodigy academy in Metroburg.

"More than half of those students become supervillains!" Charlotte complained.

"Yeah, but all of them get the education that they deserve. Besides, you don't become a supervillain on education alone. Your family background, upbringing, societal treatment and personal response to trauma are usually key ingredients. You and Henry raise him with love, support and comfort. He should be fine."

Charlotte looked at her son for a while, seeing the excitement and anticipation on his face as she pondered her lab partner's advice. She sighed and said, "Okay, we'll check it out."

"Yes! Thank you, Maxi!" Hammy cheered and rushed to his junior lab - a lab sized for him to work in while his mother worked on her things in the adjacent room.

"I think it'll be good for him to be schooled around other kids like him, anyway," Max added. "No way that any kid of Henry's just naturally has that level of intelligence. Kid's a super, Charls."

"His power is what superintelligence?" She asked.

"That's a legitimate power. I mean… He's seemed very interested in your work since he was an infant and he began conducting his own experiments soon after he began walking. You thought that was typical?"

"You obviously don't know my family history. We're filled with geniuses, on both sides… well, not Uncle Roscoe, but he's an artistic genius and maybe that counts."

"Did you get him tested?"

"Uncle Roscoe? No! His art is _that_ good!" She said. Max rolled his eyes and Charlotte smiled. "I don't need to get him tested. When he's old enough and knows what supers and non-supes are, I trust that he'll ask to be tested when he's ready…" They heard a huge thud from the next room and she gasped. "Charlie!" Max and Charlotte ran into the next room to see that Henry and Charlotte's younger child, Charlotte II, aka "Charlie," had knocked over a bookshelf to try to get her toy that rolled under it. "Charlie…" Charlotte said, relieved that the crawling infant hadn't hurt herself. She picked her up with one hand and fixed the bookshelf with the other.

"You get her tested?" Max joked.

They knew from the first week that they brought Charlie home that she was a super. Though, at that time, she seemed to have hypermotility. Henry was definitely proud and gleaming about it. Char? Not so much. The kid's metabolism was high and she sucked every drop from her mom's mammary glands within a few moments, then cried loudly for more. She seemed to be starving, even though Charlotte didn't have anything else to give her. The baby even went through the excess breast milk that Charlotte had pumped and frozen whenever she had Hammy, which he was still drinking from and it was used for beauty care, too.

But, she also wasn't a fan of formula, so she'd eat it only when she was too hungry to function and Charlotte hadn't produced more milk. They were terrified that the kid was gonna starve herself to death! Charlotte got a sample of her breastmilk and worked on synthesizing it in her lab. It took her a few weeks to get it just right, but she wound up having to mass produce it for her hungry little one and began to toy around with it, too.

She'd have different levels of proteins, fats, sugars, and hormones, depending on how the sensory baby bundle blankets read Charlie's vitals, be able to select custom breastmilk for her current needs. After a while, Charlie didn't want the naturally created milk, so that was fine - Charlotte simply rebuilt her stash for her and Hammy's needs.

Now, months later, and crawling around, Charlie was becoming a moving disaster. She was tiny and cute, like her mom… and apparently took after her physically, too. She definitely was moving things that even an adult would struggle with. Hammy suggested locking her up when she accidentally crumbled one of his movie spaceship models within moments of putting her little hands on it. Charlotte had not yet perfected products for babies with superstrength. It was tricky.

They had super strength, but their bodies weren't super strong. Meaning, yes, they would wreck things in their path easily, but you could still seriously hurt them with any of the tools that were usually used to subdue those with super strength. The body was still forming. They were able to withstand more than a regular baby, but they weren't indestructible!

Charlie had once broken Henry's hand by squeezing it too hard. It hurt like the dickens, but he was able to repair it quickly. It was on his enhanced arm, so he was good. Hammy was a little bit jealous. It seemed that his baby sister had two powers and he didn't even have one. No matter how many "We love you both equally" chats he was given, he could see that Charlie's situation required more time, effort and energy. When you're five, that could be read as more love, even if you were a genius who could deduce better. The manifestation of Charlie's superstrength also signaled the disdain that Hammy had towards Henry. He didn't hate him or dislike him, but he didn't like that Charlie was able to break his bones and still get more one on one time with him!

Hammy began working on something in his little lab, which he presented to Charlie on her first birthday. It was a cute little bracelet that had "Baby Sis" in beads and was red, blue, and yellow. After he put it on her wrist, she didn't have any more super strength accidents and she didn't appear to have any hypermotility issues, either.

So, the Page family presumed that she must have selected a power that they hadn't yet seen come into fruition. It was so relaxing to have her be a normal little girl that they didn't put huge emphasis on it. Charlotte checked her vitals and tested her for diseases. Everything was clear, so she was satisfied.

.

Hammy was a protective older brother, but he also was often away at the academy. Academy life was okay. He loved his classes and the work that he was allowed to do. He hated his classmates. "Supervillains-in-Training" he liked to think of them as, or to be clever, "Pieces of S.I.T." He was very adverse to villainy. His parents were known heroes. His aunt was Lady Danger. He grew up in the Hero League Headquarters Nursery and the few normal people that he knew were family and super supporters. He knew that whenever he grew up, he'd most likely work in the world of supers, even though he was a non-supe. The kids around him in the academy weren't particularly happy about it. Why was he able to get into this school? Why wasn't he at a school for subpers? Didn't they have EVERY access outside of this place? He agreed, to a certain extent. He didn't think that non-pows should just take up space in areas made for supers, but he also knew that he didn't belong in one of those non-pow schools. He'd tried already.

He was somewhere in the middle. Both of his parents were average born and transformed into supers during adolescence. He had more non-pow in him than super, but he obviously had enough to where he couldn't quite fit in to the non-pow fold. Even at the academy, the kids that he had classes with were supers that were several years older than him. He was one of the smartest children in the place and this was just how it was. It wasn't his fault. He hated that he had to remind himself of that. It was as much his fault that he wasn't a super as it was his baby sister's fault that she was.

.

Every year, Hammy worked on Charlie's bracelet. He didn't want to take it off of her, just in case, so he'd work on it while she sat on his lap, babbling about her cartoons or whatever.

Charlotte and he were best friends, though he felt (even at his young age) that he needed to protect her from knowing some of the stuff that happened in his life. The worst he would say was "I'm still having a hard time relating to the kids at the academy." She often thought the worst, so he'd tag on, "But, it's fine. Who needs people that you have to try to convince of your worth?"

Henry always brought him back to school at the end of the weekend, checking to make sure that his clothes and stuff were plentiful and double and triple checking the food account. It was embarrassing! "Dad, I can take care of myself. I assure you that everything is as it should be!" he said, noticing the older boys pointing and laughing as Henry counted his clean pairs of underwear.

"I know, Bud. I just gotta make sure that…" Hammy snatched the underwear from him and stuffed them back into the drawer. Henry smiled, gently and said, "You know I only do these things because it's my job to make sure that everything is okay for you."

"Yes," Hammy said, annoyed. "I get it. But, I have a hard enough time fitting in with my subper genes!" Henry winced at this and shut the dorm door to speak with his son in private. "I have more to prove than most of these kids and I can't do that if nobody takes me seriously."

"Hammy, you don't have anything to prove, Son…"

"Let's start there. Stop calling me that. I'm seven years old working on an advanced degree in engineering technology. I can't keep answering to "Hammy," and expect someone to call me Doctor in a couple of years."

"Well, what would you like for us to call you instead?"

"My name is Hamilton. That's fine. Some of the professors call me Hank, because of my middle name being Henry."

"I like Hank," Henry said. "What else can I do to make you feel better?"

"Don't treat me like a kid. I can take care of myself. I have patent pending products that I made in my junior lab. I don't need you to do a panty check for me!"

Henry nodded his head and offered, "Well… My parents raised me to look after myself and my sister. Sometimes, I even had to look after them. Whenever your Gigi Siren would have a long sleep after a huge party, or skip off to some frivolous retreat on Dad's bonus checks. Whenever your Grandpa Jake was in between job assignments and out trying to find work or doing things around the house that I definitely would have to go in behind him and repair… I've been being a parent most of my life and I always promised myself and I promised your mom when we got married that my kids, our kids would never have to wonder why I wasn't around or why I wasn't helping. I never want my children to feel like they have to do anything a moment before they have to do it. I know that you can do all this stuff, Buddy…" Hammy made a face, "Hank," Henry corrected himself. "I was just hoping to get to be a real dad to you for longer than mine was to me. I guess that's out of the question. I'm sorry if I embarrass you."

Hammy sighed and opened the door back. "It's okay. You do your best. Grandpa Jake and Gigi Siren are train wrecks. I think that for growing up under them, you've done pretty good. Probably because you raised yourself, and you're a wonderful dad. Just… Hands off my underwear, for the love of God."

Henry laughed and nodded, "Noted."

"How is Charlotte?" Hammy wondered. He was the only person who called his sister Charlotte, and they always knew who he meant, because of course, Big Charlotte was "Mom."

"She's good. Whenever you come back to school, she asks for you for the first couple of days. By Wednesday, she gets used to you being gone, then when she sees you on Friday evening, it's her partytime."

"I have to tell you something, Dad." Hammy sat on the bed and Henry joined him. "Charlotte's bracelet isn't just a bracelet. It's to keep her superpowers down."

"What?"

"She was destroying stuff and Mom couldn't figure out what to do to keep her from doing it. So, I made something for her."

"Hamilton! What if it would have been dangerous? You can't just try experiments on your little sister!"

"I know. But, in my defense, I was 5." They sat there, making the same face - somewhere between a smolder and confusion. "You're wondering how to present this admission to Mom, aren't you?"

"Any pointers?" Henry wondered.

"She's very accommodating when you put food into her. Seafood, especially. Maybe some floral tea and a nice, rich slice of cheesecake?" Hammy was wringing his hands together. "Just… be sure to tell her that I meant no ill will."

"I'm sure she'll know that, Hank." He gave him a pat on the back.

.

Charlotte knew. She always knew that the bracelet did the job that it did. At first, she thought that Hammy had accidentally tampered the powers, but after paying close attention to Charlie and the bracelet, she realized that he was consistently working on it. As long as she was monitoring how it went, she saw no need to interfere or to make him feel bad about it. Henry was a little bit upset that she never let him in on it, though. While food was a good way to smooth Charlotte over, Charlotte had ways of making Henry agreeable too.

It smelled good in there. "Hey, Diffuschar? What is this blend?" He asked, putting his hand onto the air panel on his side of the bed.

"Henry, are you addressing me?" the Charlotte voice in the air system asked.

"Yes! You are the Diffuschar."

"I am an essential oil diffusing air conditioning system, Henry. EODACS is the acronym and can be used to address me."

"Just tell me this blend!"

"This is Mistress Charlotte's 'I'm Sorry' Sexual Seduction Mix."

"Mis what's who now?"

"Mistress Charlotte's 'I'm Sorry' Sexual Seduction Mix. It includes Patchouli, Sweet Orange, Lavender, Sandalwood, Jasmine, and Ylang Ylang."

"I… When did she?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "It does smell good, but honestly, she smells better. She could have Mistress Charlotte sexually seduced me by coming in here smelling like a tropical sundae."

"Would you like me to switch to Tropical Sundae Seduction Mix, Henry?"

"No. Let whatever Charlotte has going on go on." When she came into the room, with her hair in Bantu knots and a silk chemise on, he was alert. "Hey. Diffuschar said that she's airing out some sexual seduction…" She climbed into the bed and crawled to him. "Do you want me to do something?"

"Not be mad at me for not telling you about Charlie's bracelet?" She said with her lips in a pout.

"I don't know. I told you right away when I found out." She raised an eyebrow and he quickly reminded himself, "But, I've tried to keep stuff from you before too, so…" He smiled awkwardly. "I really wish that he didn't have to be at that place. It wears down on him. He's capable of handling himself, but he's still just a kid. My kid… and he doesn't even want to let me treat him like a kid."

"Well… It's his decision. If my parents let me go somewhere to school instead of Swellview, I'd have been elated."

"Yeah, but then you wouldn't have me," Henry said.

"Yeah, but…" She didn't have a reply. Instead, she traced down the middle of his belly, "The universe would have made sure that everything was what it needed to be for us. There's no way that I exist and you aren't somehow in my life."

He smiled and pulled her closer. "You're trying to have another baby."

"I 100% am not. Charlie rearranged my insides. I would never want another one of them. The two we have are perfect enough." He laughed.

.

The Page-Hart-Thunderman Family was a superfamily of the highest esteem, usually referred to as the "Danger Force Family," considering that most of their missions were assigned under Henry's command as Mr. Danger. People even began giving the other heroes Danger alternatives like Charlotte as "Danger Master" or Billy as "Quick Danger." None of them minded the aliases. It kept them as characters in the minds of the world and that meant that less people bothered them in their everyday lives. Besides, governments had set protective laws in place such as not being authorized to approach any super or hero out of uniform for any purpose but alerting them to a present, real, and nearby criminal emergency.

That law had taken a while to perfect. Because when it first was introduced as to not approach supers outside of uniform unless it was an emergency - people determined what THEY thought was an emergency (and it usually was not). They also would bother people that they knew to be superhuman, even if they weren't superheroes… which… those persons were not authorized nor obligated to deal with an emergency situation any more than a non-pow citizen was! Then, there was the issue of pulling someone from their child's program at school for an emergency on the other side of town that they couldn't even get to in time and also that there were already heroes dispatched to! It took some work before the current system was in place and people were getting used to it. They could be charged with supers abuse if they decided not to work within the stated parameters. That law was Piper's favorite one ever written, especially with Starlette in tow. The number of people she had reflexively punched right in the face for getting too close to her daughter too fast had become a meme.

Page-Hart-Thunderman Family Reunion was a time that Charlotte, Piper, and Simone started to celebrate the merging of their families. After dating for a couple of years, Piper got married and bridged the Page and Thunderman families together officially. Five years after Ray became President, Gwen's touched began to look normal again. It was like the effects faded over the years and by that time, nobody had a green hint left in their presentation. Simone was tired of everyone telling her that it was weird to see her normal again, but she was relieved that all of the people who had to walk around that way over the past five years would be able to fit in again. That was the year that the reunions began. She felt like herself again. She felt normal again. She got her tubes untied and began working on making more children and resigned from working for the Hero League.

The festivities began with a feast at the Page-Hart condo, with Henry and Charlotte's parents hosting. They had it catered, usually and everyone showed up to eat and catch up.

Siren, Jake, Esmerelda, and Antony would welcome Hank Thunderman and Barb, and Evelyn to the "grown ups table" while Henry, Charlotte, Max, Simone, Jasper, Piper, Billy, and Nora usually preferred to take their business to the rooftop. Chloe tended to want to see what was up with the kiddos. The first couple of years, it was only Maxine and Monalise, Hammy and Charlie, Piper's one little girl, Starlette. But, of course, the family grew and transformed and eventually, they couldn't even have the opening night dinner at the Page-Hart condo.

Charlotte's home was the most appropriate place, considering that they added on to the estate all of the time and her inventions made for everyone's quarters adjusting for the comfort of the individuals within its walls. She, too, had taken a step back from the Hero League, when things got smoother for Ray, and while he sometimes seemed like he had no idea what was happening, he seemed to be handling everything well. He would stop by the reunion with presents for the kids and to talk to "his kids" (Henry, Charlotte, Jasper and Piper), and to eat cake. But, he would never stay for the whole thing. Dinner and playtime with the little ones was enough to fuel his joy for a while and being around all the parents for too long might counter that for him. But, each time that he was headed out, the moms would always offer in sweet voices with kind smiles, "You're always welcome to stay, Ray!" That was nice. He liked to see that.

.

Charlotte had been interested in politics for a while. From her work as the Tactical Chief of the Hero League, Her own Campaign Manager for her election, and Advisor to the President; she leaned towards a political career. She remembered that future Ray claiming that she would be president. For years, she thought that he meant President of the United States and to be frank, they NEEDED somebody like her, but in more recent years, she began to think that maybe he meant President of the Hero League. They always just called that position "The President" and every super always knew that they weren't talking about whatever rubbish was chilling in the White House.

So, whenever Hank was 10 and Charlie was 5, she made dinner one night, of fish, greens, noodles, and cornbread with large bowls of grapes and decorations of assorted lilies and daffodils, with crystals set around the vases. Charlie immediately rushed to the table and stuffed cornbread into her mouth, while Hank looked confused and asked, "What kind of changes are we about to have to go through?"

Henry had just come from a mission and showered. Whenever he came in on Hank asking Charlotte that question, he, like his daughter, grabbed cornbread and stuffed it into his mouth. Yeah… She took after him.

"Everyone sit down, so we can have dinner," Charlotte said.

Hank looked worried, but Henry and Charlie were ready to eat. Charlotte went around the table, preparing plates and talking, "As Hank as already noticed, I have charged and put out the green aventurine, amazonite, tourmalinated Quartz, and labradorite." Those sounded familiar to Henry. He was certain that the Charlotte Interface had probably told him about at least a couple of those to get him to go to sleep. "And as Hank knows, with his eidetic memory and studying geology a few summers ago, those are crystals associated with good luck and new beginnings." That was the easiest way to say it for everyone, including Charlie. "Mommy wants to have a good luck dinner with her family to usher in a new goal."

Henry raised an eyebrow. This was his first time hearing about a new goal. "Oh yeah? What's Mommy's new goal?" He wondered.

She took her seat at the table and said, "Present." The room went dark and the interface pulled up a powerpoint presentation of a campaign promo for her. Whenever it ended, the lights came back on and she waited for their reactions.

"Mommy, you're gonna be President of the Whole World?" Charlie asked, excited.

Charlotte smiled and said, "Well, if all goes well, of the Hero League."

"What about Uncle Ray?" Hank asked.

"He's comfortable, but he's also stagnant. It's given him gray hair. I'm sure he'll love to be able to go and do something else. I got him an early 50th birthday present - an RV with pet friendly doggie quarters and PageMasterTech state of the art personalization program for both man and pet."

"So, you're gonna bribe him into resigning," Henry said, disappointed.

"I'm going to make sure that when and if he does resign, he knows that there's a peaceful retirement awaiting him!" She corrected.

Henry forced a smile and continued eating. She could tell that he didn't like it. Hank was staring at her in disbelief. She could tell that he didn't like it either. Charlie cheered, "You're gonna be the best President in the world, Mommy!"

She smiled at her, "Thank you.. But please don't chew with your mouth wide open… or talk when your mouth is full…" Charlie spit her food onto her plate and repeated herself. Charlotte gagged, "Okay…" She just nodded her head and stared at Henry. He was quiet for the rest of dinner, but before they left the table, Hank had more to say.

"Mom, do you think that Dad can handle being in the field without your backup? This isn't Swellview. He works on a global level with extremely dangerous threats. There's no way that you can assist him and be President. You would have to spread yourself entirely too thin. I've spent this entire dinner trying to rationalize this decision. You'll have to help me understand it."

"It's something that I want to do, just like The Danger is something that your dad wants to do and I have supported him in doing it most of my life. SO, now it's time for us to try to support me doing something that I want to do. Does that make sense to you?"

"No!" Hank snapped. "Mom, he's an idiot! He'll die without you on his tactical team!"

Charlotte: Hank…

Henry: Hey, now..

Charlie: DADDY'S GONNA DIE?

They spoke at the same time. "No. He's not going to die and he's not an idiot." She thought for a moment, especially from Hank's viewpoint, then made it more palatable for him, "Well, he's not defenseless without me. He's got the suit and gadgets that he needs. He'll have technical from the interface, and if he needs me, I'll drop anything for him."

Hank rubbed his face and said, "I'm leaving the academy to resume your duties on his tactical team."

"You're 10, so no you're not."

"You think I'll be able to focus on course material with him out there without you?"

Charlie banged on the table and asked, "Hey! Is Daddy gonna die?"

"No, Daddy's not gonna die," Charlotte said. "Henry, some help?" She held her hands out and looked at him. His plate was pretty much empty and his eyebrows were still furrowed, but he nodded his head.

"Hank, Buddy - we don't want you to quit school. You're one of the children, and the adults are gonna handle the things that you're worried about. I'll touch base with you every single day so that you don't have to worry. Charlie, Champ - I'm definitely not gonna die. Your dad was born for danger and he'll be a fighter for many years to come, okay?" Charlie nodded. If her Daddy said it, it was true.

Charlotte and Hank went to go talk on the patio and Henry cleared the table while Charlie went to wash up for the night.

"I'm scared, Mom. The last time you wanted to be president, someone tried to kill you. I've read every single report that there was about that election."

"That was a different time, Honey." She wrapped her arms around him from behind and they looked up at the stars together, "The stars were different, then. You know, Mommy thinks that the stars line up for perfect things to be done in our lives and I believe that right now, they're lining up to make your mom a president."

"Grandfather, a specialist, a leader in his field, has told me to my face that your thoughts on this matter are unwarranted. But, if what you're saying to me is that you have the confidence that things will be fine, then I choose to try to accept that, too."

"That's all I ask," she said and kissed the top of his blond head. "My Little Ham."

"Please, do not."

She laughed and squeezed him to herself.

Henry had gone to bed after tucking Charlie in. Whenever Hank went to wash up, Charlotte went to find him. "Hey… You asleep?" she asked as quietly as possible, in case he was.

"How could I be asleep after that bomb you just dropped at dinner?" He asked back. He didn't sound mad, but she knew that he wasn't happy. She sighed and sat on the bed next to him. "I support you. You know I do, I just… I guess I thought that after that last time, this wouldn't be an option. I'm scared shitless of you being in that kind of position again."

"Me too, but like I did whenever you were unconscious and most of the world was giving up on ever seeing your eyes again, I've got faith. I can do it. Please, tell me that you believe in me?"

"I believe in you more than anything I've ever known. It's the world around us that frightens me."

"Well, that's why I've got you, though. You and me against the world? They don't stand a chance. Hashtag Henlotte."

"Hashtag Henlotte," he repeated and pulled her to himself.


	36. That Page Power

**That Page Power**

She had to get some things in order with her numerous corporations, first. It was times like these that she missed Mimi the most, because that woman had been so great with organization and filling in blanks. Jasper was her assistant… well… he was the family's assistant. Honestly, he was like a super personal assistant who also mannied and helped with manual labor. Charlotte had to often remind the kids that "Uncle Jasper is not a butler!" They'd get away with anything that he let them and not having kids of his own yet, what he allowed became a lot before he got Barfield.

That was when Hank was 11 and Charlie was 6. The year that Charlotte finally was ready to announce her bid to the presidency of the Hero League. Jasper had told her, apologetically, "I'm a father now, so I can't be your campaign manager."

"I think I'll figure out a way to make it," she told him.

"I'll do it. It'll be good practice for both business and politics that I'll need to run My Little Ham," Hank offered. The business would definitely be his, but instead of 18, more and more every day, they were sure that he'd be able to take over any day now. Charlotte's family all had shares in her companies, but Hank would have the most when he became an adult. She really wanted Charlie to handle at LEAST SoulDates.

There was something poetic about her only daughter having the rights to a social network that her mother once created for her father… but Charlie wasn't interested in that. Charlotte wasn't always sure just WHAT Charlie was interested in, because even though they had a pretty communicative relationship, Charlie didn't really connect with Charlotte very well. She was very attentive to her brother, who was the smartest kid alive, in her little mind. She adored her Uncle Jasper, who spoiled her rotten and played every game that she wanted whenever she wanted. And she LIVED FOR her father. He was the most super superhero in the world, Mr. Danger. "And someday, I'M gonna be a superhero too!" She'd often brag.

"You don't have to be a superhero," Charlotte would always tell her, trying to be sure not to be the kind of mother that Simone and many other supers complained about, trying to instill some normalcy in her, even though she had powers. In fact, she wasn't even allowed to remove her bracelet until they decided that she was responsible enough to begin honing her skills and using her powers.

But, of course, sometimes she did. She took it off just to marvel about the fact that she had powers, then she'd put it back on in a hurry. She didn't know what her powers were, but she knew that her mother had a failsafe in the bracelet that alerted her if it was off for too long.

Many parents special ordered bracelets for their children's powers, however, because it was Hank's idea, Charlotte left it up to him whether they would put it on the market. His agreement was only if it was Charlie's company, since she was his inspiration for it. Charlotte loved that idea. Charlie was definitely more interested in jewelry than computers. But… a particular type. Gadget jewelry.

Growing up with a father with a bionic arm and a brother who made gizmos for fun, she didn't care about style so much as "What does it do?" A techie watch? Meh. A Whiz Watch. Yasss. The same seemed to apply for Charlotte's technology verses Hamilton's. Charlotte made things that were far more complicated than Charlie could comprehend and the parts of it that were helpful, you couldn't really see immediately. With the exception of her dad's arm and the house system, Charlie just didn't care about her mom's work. Charlotte didn't have stories that she could share with her about awesome aspects of her job, so Charlie didn't ask or care how work was for her. She always tried to be nice about not caring, but Charlotte left her to decide what she liked. Until it came down to the superpower and the hero life.

Charlie resented the fact that she wasn't able to polish her skills yet. Her dad was always excited about the possibility of her following in his footsteps, so she figured that keeping her hampered wasn't his idea. Hamilton made the bracelet for her, but try as he might to be a grown-up, she knew he didn't have any REAL authority in that house, and she wasn't sure if her daddy did either, for that matter. They had her mommy's last name. They lived on her mommy's work, mostly. Her daddy had to have gotten paid, but even being a superhero outside of the house, when he got back, he was the one of the two who cooked and cleaned and planted flowers. Charlie wasn't smart like her brother, but she was able to see a power dynamic, whether or not she was able to express what she was seeing. Like, her daddy would say something really cool and she'd get excited, then her mommy would make him think about it, or ask, "You sure about that, Hen?" And suddenly, he changed his mind to something boring instead.

Well, she wasn't gonna get the best of Charlie with that reverse psychology or whatever it was that Hank would tell her "only works on Dad," when he was determined to do things differently than what she said. Not reverse psychology. She was mixing up her examples, but WHATEVER! Charlie took off her bracelet and put it in her trinket box. The box glowed and a holographic manifestation of her mother appeared, "Hey, Charlie. Interface tells me that your bracelet is off. Mind telling me why?"

"I do mind!" Charlie snapped.

"You do?" Charlotte asked, taking a seat in her office, where she had been working until she got the alert. "Am I going to have to get your father involved, young lady?"

Charlie folded her arms and said, "You're not the president yet, so you can't boss him around all the time!"

Charlotte gave her an empathetic smile and said, "Okay. But, for right now, I still need you put that bracelet back on and we can discuss how you're feeling."

"I'm not putting it on because that's not who I am! I'm supposed to be a hero. Why don't you want me to be?"

"You're too young, Sweetie. Studies show that 94% of supers who are exploited for their powers from an early age become stunted adults with difficulty sustaining healthy relationships and 85% suffer from emotional trauma or mental dysfunction."

"How early are the ages in the study?" Charlie asked, reaching for her bracelet, a little frightened by her mother using statistics and studies. She didn't really understand a lot of that, but it sounded like messed up stuff.

"Prepubescent children's bodies have not yet developed enough to practically navigate powers. Those who can do so earlier generally have hands on daily training and extensive support. When you hit puberty, we'll TALK about it. Now… bracelet please." Charlie begrudgingly put it back on. "Please don't make me have to contact you this way again." Not only did Charlie not make her have to contact her that way again, but Charlie couldn't be bothered for most contact with Charlotte.

She still said "I love you," every night. She still encouraged her for her presidential race. But… Charlotte knew pretending when she saw it.

"She hates me," she said to Jasper and Henry while they worked in the campaign office.

They wanted to argue with her, but all that would come out was, "For now," from Jasper and a "Hate's a strong word" from Henry.

Henry elaborated, "Charlie is a sweet girl. There's not a hateful bone in her body and certainly not towards you. You're her mom. You're her hero. She sees you as a woman that she'll never grow up to be able to be and that's valid. You're intimidating. But, she knows that she has a good heart and she loves making people happy and wants to help people, in her own way. Whenever you tell her that she can't, she feels like she's not good enough. Like you don't trust her."

"Did she tell you all that? Because she's six and doesn't have the greatest vocabulary," Charlotte said, typing something.

"I paraphrased because she's six and doesn't have the greatest vocabulary, but she definitely expressed a lot of this in her own words. I told her that you're scared of forcing her to feel like because she's super, she's got a responsibility to save people and that's why you're trying to protect her from being like Uncle Ray."

"What did she say?"

"Uncle Ray is awesome. He lets me play with lasers."

"WHAT?"

"I know, right? He didn't even invite us along for laser play with our own kid?"

"That's not…"

"I know that you're scared of pushing her into the lifestyle and her resenting it later… but… I think she's resenting you for trying to keep her away from it. But, Char… if it was Hank… would you keep his power dampened?"

"Hank's more responsible than her."

"So, no."

"He's above level intelligent and above level maturity. I can't treat them exactly the same because they aren't the same."

"When you're 6, it looks like loving differently. She's got no reference to how you rationalize. All she has is that Hank has always been trusted to be who he is, but she isn't. Not by you."

"If that keeps her safe, then I don't mind being the villain in her narrative. She'll understand one day."

"That's why I said "for now" when you said she hates you," Jasper said, proud of himself.

"Somebody's gonna hate you later for naming him Barfield," she commented.

"I think he'll be honored that his father wanted a unique name for him."

"Naw," she said, not looking up.

"I actually agree with my wife on this one," Henry said.

Now, she looked up, "What do you mean, on this one?"

"Thought that was obvious. On this subject, not the last."

"Okay, so wait… you think I'm _wrong_ to try to protect our daughter?"

"I think that you're going about protecting her wrong. Yes, kids who have powers get exploited early and it negatively affects them, but… that's not what this is or what this would be. I believe that whenever children begin to ask about things and be interested in things, that's when decisions should be made. I think that she'd be fine to begin learning her powers and if she doesn't like it, she would tell me and we'd stop."

Charlotte felt blindsided. She scoffed, "Well, did you tell her that?"

"I did. Because, I believe that she was looking for support and I genuinely had some for her."

"You're the reason that she thinks I'm the bad guy! You're not supposed to tell children when we disagree."

"She thinks that you're the bad guy in this situation because she knows that you're the one that doesn't want her to do what she wants. Not because I happen to agree with her that it's unfair."

"Wow. I would never do that to you.."

"You'd never have to, Char. If the kids tell me that they want or need something, my default is to explore that with them."

"Your default is careless parenting, just like it's careless everything!"

Barfield began crying and Jasper got up to check on him. He picked the curly haired boy up and announced, "We're gonna give you two some time. I don't really like Barfield in an arguing space…"

Henry got up and shook his head, "You're the one who actually works for her, you stay. I'd probably be too careless to help out here, anyway." He winked at Charlotte. She could tell that he was angry, despite him keeping his cool. "See you at home." He told her, then left. The system in his arm noticed that he was dangerously angry and gave him something to balance him out.

Jasper sat down with his baby and a bottle. "You okay, Champ?"

Charlotte smiled at him with his son and sighed, "They're so easy at that age. People think it's harder because of the crying and the feeding and cleaning. When they start thinking for themselves and creating their image of you without all of the information that you have, though… that's what's really hard. Charlie worshipped the ground I walk on and then suddenly… she just hated me."

"It wasn't that sudden. You're really abrasive sometimes and I think she's too young to get that."

"When am I abrasive?" Charlotte asked.

"Whenever anybody is not as smart as you and you're talking to them? Like how you're talking to me like you're mad at me, right now?"

"Like I'm mad?" She repeated, "I can't even raise my voice slightly in confusion without being pegged as angry?"

"I don't know, but you sound really angry and it's freaking me out! I'm holding a baby for crying out loud!" Jasper said. Barfield seemed just fine to Char. She rolled her eyes, then got up and left the room.

Charlotte went into a small closet that she sometimes went to whenever she needed a moment to herself and she started crying. Henry called her a little bit later. Dammit… had Interface alerted him that she was crying? She ignored the call. If it was an emergency, he'd say that. She only needed a few minutes anyway. She never cried for long when she was out and about. She checked her phone again when she cleaned her face. Henry had texted: _Please answer the phone or call me back when you finish crying._

"Damn Interface. I've made you too smart," she mumbled and returned the text: _I'm fine._ He called back anyway and she answered. "Yeah, Hen. I'm fine."

"You were crying. Interface said so and I know it's true because you wouldn't answer the phone."

"I'm fine," she repeated. They held their phones for a moment. "Listen, I'm sorry for what I said. It was unfair and not exactly true."

"True enough. I am definitely a lot more relaxed than you on most situations, and I can see how that can be read as careless to somebody so uptight." She tried not to react to that dig, and it was well enough because he kept talking, "But, I feel like you know that I care and it was kind of you just trying to hurt me because I disagreed with you. Charlotte, you are a master at most things that you do. You were the smartest person IN Swellview, not just in school - the whole damn town. You graduated with honors every single time you got a degree. You were a trailblazer in the superhero products manufacturing industry, developed apps that have changed the experience of nearly every super in existence and create things for babies, children and mothers burdened with superpowers, on top of labor and nursing… You're an amazing person. You can do almost anything, so sometimes, that makes you feel like you're always right and whenever someone disagrees with you that they're wrong. That's fine. You're entitled to that opinion, but you don't have to hurt me because I made you uncomfortable."

"That's not what I was doing. I was hurt that you didn't have my back when one of our kids was feeling negatively about me. You couldn't even at least bring me into that conversation and let both of us talk to her?"

"I guess I could have, but I still would have felt the same way about it, and I've always clarified that you're doing what you believe is best and that you are usually correct. When Mommy makes a decision, it's the smartest possible decision to make is what I say, without fail, every time. I didn't not have your back. I just still don't think you were right! It's okay to not be right about everything, Char. The old folks used to say that kids don't come with an instruction manual, then people started making instruction manuals, but they don't cover everything, because everybody's kid is an individual. When Hank was Charlie's age, he could've moved to New York by himself and gotten a place, and started a business on his own, if he wanted to. Charlie just accidentally sat on her own ice cream to tie her shoe, then pulled up her dress to eat it off… _yesterday._ She's her dad's kid… And unfortunately kinda her Uncle Jasper's, somehow." They both laughed a little thinking about how Jasper-like that entire ice cream ordeal was and how Hank literally timed her to see how long it would take her 1. To notice that she sat in it, 2. To decide what she wanted to do about it. 3. To eat a sundae off of the butt of her dress. "Baby… You are the pillar and beacon of our household and you are the heart of our family. I would be dead without you. Our kids, without you, would be being raised by me and a man who named his only son Barfield, after a child that he once stole and then got taken away from him… That was named horribly THAT time, too!" Now, she laughed harder. That meant it was working. He was softening her up. "But, baby, parenting isn't a science. It's a miracle. It's a miracle to be able to figure out what works with a little person who is nothing like you and to do what's best for them when neither of you know that for certain. Nobody expects you to be perfect at everything. You are the best mother that I've ever known. You make sure everyone's needs are met, you improve just about everything that our kids have had to come into contact with and you think of things that would never even cross any of our minds, not even Hank's, to make sure your family is healthy and safe. You're protective, so fiercely protective and I love these things about you and I'm so lucky and glad that such a heroine married me and gave me children."

"But I make everybody miserable and at least one of my kids hates me."

"She doesn't hate you! But, if we keep holding her back, she might one day. And I mean… I think you could stand to lighten up on being the expert of everything in this one area. I think I'm a pretty good dad, and I feel like my input is as important as yours when it comes to the kids."

"Of course it is! I've never suggested that it wasn't."

"Charlie thinks that you think I'm too stupid to be a daddy and that every time I say something you _make_ me think about it until I change my mind. Those are actually her exact words."

Charlotte sighed, "So… You think that she's ready, to start fooling around with her powers?"

"No. I think that she's way too young and it would be terrible for her to fool around with her powers! What I think is that we should allow her the freedom to get comfortable with having them and being more open about it. If she takes off her bracelet, let her zip around the room for a little bit. Maybe let her pick up a few heavy things."

"When she was an infant, she crushed your hand. She's 6 now. She's clumsy and awkward. She could accidentally zip around and knock the fountain on herself or something!"

"She has a daddy that's faster than her to catch her from making that kind of mistake."

"Okay." Charlotte took a deep breath. Henry knew it was hard for her to relinquish this kind of power, considering that her child was on the line. A lot of people thought that Charlotte was a detached person, kinda cold and not affectionate, but she was actually the opposite whenever she loved someone and she loved her children probably more than she loved a man that she spent 13 months cooped up with, waiting for him to recover. "Okay… I'm going to accept that you as her father… will do what you think is best… with that… And…" her chest was tight and she could hardly breathe, "If anything happens to her, I'll just have to kill you."

"That's such a fair agreement. I'll want that, too."

.

They announced at dinner Henry's plan to begin letting Charlie get familiar with her powers. She cheered and reached for her bracelet while Hank nearly choked on his pot roast Charlotte quickly saved him and flawlessly warned Charlie, "Not so fast, Missy. Your dad has to go over the rules." Charlie sank back in her seat, sure that that meant he was gonna give her Charlotte's rules, which she was sure were gonna be rules that sucked.

Henry assured her, "So, your mom and I talked about how you feel and we decided that was more important than how Mommy feels about this… because it's your power and your body." Charlie looked surprised and looked at her mother, to see if she was going to object to this. Henry kept talking, "But, you mean so much to both of us that we can't just let you do whatever you want. So, we are going to try to help you accomplish what you want, but only in a safe way, okay?"

"Okay?" She repeated, still looking at Charlotte, who was trying not to cry, "Are you okay, Mommy?" Charlotte nodded. "Are you gonna cry? If you're gonna cry, I won't do it…"

"Charlie," Henry said. "Don't worry about Mommy, okay. Right now, what we're talking about is helping you. So, these are the rules, you ONLY take off your bracelet when you're training with me and no other time. Do you understand?" She nodded.

Charlotte gave her different examples to see if she actually did understand. She did. Henry proceeded. "Whenever we're training, always tell me your goal before you make an attempt. That means tell Daddy what you're about to try to do before you try to do it. Because, for one thing, I have to be sure it's reasonable. For another, I want to know what to be paying attention to, in case it goes wrong."

She nodded, and before Charlotte could ask her questions said, "Like, if I want to try to pick up that goddess statue in the garden, I say I wanna pick up that statue and you are there in case I can't, and you have to help me."

"Right," both parents said.

The other rules were doable too. No training in the house. No showing off what she learned, even to family, unless Daddy was there to back her up. No hero complex whenever she saw someone in danger. "We're training you to be comfortable in your skin, NOT to become a superhero. If you honestly and truly still want to do that when you get older, then that'll be up to you. But, we aren't going to train you to be a superhero just because you have superpowers," Charlotte said, firmly.

Charlie nodded solemnly, then cheered, "I want to get started right away. I'm gonna go grab my Lady Danger costume and put my hair up and call Starlette and tell her to suck my big toe!"

"Don't. Don't do any of that," Henry said, then whispered to Charlotte, "She can't do that, right?"

"No, she can't," she said smiling through her teeth. Then, to a crestfallen Charlie said, "Daddy has to make a training schedule for the two of you, but it certainly won't be at night, after dinner. You can put on your Lady Danger costume after you wash up and MAYBE Daddy will let you zip around outside for a little while before bed."

"Honestly, that's the only thing that might make her sleep tonight," Hank said, monotone. Charlotte looked at him and he forced a smile, got up with his empty plate and took it to the kitchen. Charlotte followed him while Henry tried to calm Charlie down before she choked on the food she was trying to hurry up and finish.

"Hank? Is everything okay?" He started washing his dishes and seemed like he was really thinking about the question. "You know that you can tell me anything," she said. The look on his face said otherwise and she wondered, _well damn, is HANK feeling a way about me too?_ "I know that I'm not a perfect mom, but I promise you guys, I try my best."

"You're an excellent mom, Mom. I just… know that you stress about things. I don't always like to stress you out. You're like surrounded by stress inducing people, and I like being the one sensible person that doesn't make you make that one face where for a few moments, you contemplate a mass murder, then remind yourself that you have children and they're not old enough to get their own jobs."

"I sadly know exactly what that face is, but if you're stressed out, I'd rather you give that mess to me and you will be fine." She took the dish from him and set it to dry.

He leaned against the counter, almost as tall as her now, obviously just INSISTING on taking after all of his father's physical genes, with the exception of him starting to look a little more tanned now and have a little more darkness in his blond curls. "As long as Charlie was in that bracelet, she was a normal girl. We had a great relationship and we were both normal kids, and now… I'm going to be an outcast. I'm not a super," he said sadly.

"Well, we don't know that, but as soon as you're ready, we can get you tested and…"

"I did the test myself. I'm negative. I'm a non-supe." He looked like he might cry.

"Well… Listen… I, too, was a non-supe and that didn't make me any less than your father or Ray."

"Did you feel like an outcast?" He asked.

"Not because of that."

"Because you were surrounded by stress inducing people?"

"Yup."

"But, you had Jasper with you. He's clearly the designated outcast." A little bit lower and to himself, he declared, "I can't believe that he went through the process of finding a surrogate to carry his child and named that boy Barfield."

"Well, you know what? Jasper WAS the designated outcast of the Man Cave, but we all were pretty weird in our own ways. Whatever makes you different makes you special. Maybe because you're the only non-super in the house, you'll be able to do things that we might not be able to. Superpower regulations are always up and down. Whatever happens, you are the smartest kid that I've ever met and I get to brag to people that I made you! Hell, that can be your thing. Charlotte Page made you. You are the firstborn son of the Pagemaster. You don't need a superpower. You've got that Page Power, right here." She lovingly tapped her finger at his brain. "And you've got even more of it than me. Dominate a few industries. You'll be global."

"I just want a superpower," he said, sighed and looked at her, "And now for the part to stress you out - that's why I am working on a system to make myself become a super."

"No," she said, flat out. "If you want to work on a system to grant superpowers, okay, but I refuse to let you just experiment on yourself. You know how I got this? I was kidnapped and reprogrammed, and genetically altered. It was painful and scary and I thought I was fine, then one day it showed up, just as scary and then I had to learn to live with it. People born that way don't feel any pain or discomfort. It's their nature. I don't want you to risk yourself for something that you don't need."

"I need to know if my Page power is powerful enough for me to accomplish it."

"Don't experiment on yourself!" She warned, then hugged him and kissed him. "If anything happens to you, I'm… Whew Chile, I don't know why you and your sister want me to have a heart attack."

He smiled softly and said, "You know that I would never disobey you or do anything to make you sad. You're my favorite."

"Don't say that," she said, with a big smile on her face.

"He's sweet, but God help him…" He said, of Henry and shook his head.

.

Charlotte's bid for the presidency was met with some opposition. She was criticised for being a "flip flopper," accusations stemming everywhere from she became radicalized since working in her lab with Max Thunderman and merging their families (something that she hadn't personally done, but Max worked FOR HER in her laboratories years before and hadn't in at least 4, and she most certainly hadn't become radicalized. "What I did become is the Mother of Symbiosis - the political action body, and the extremely successful social network. Supers and Non-pows use my site, app, and lifestyle plan to make peaceful cohabitation practices that some years ago didn't even seem possible in the wake of The Chemist, Gaia… Who… I also recall creating the serum that stopped her." Henry screamed out a "WOOOOOO!" Which, she had reminded him not to do before they got here, but, there he was.

On the flipside, supers insisted that she was a hypocrite because "rumor has it" that she stifled the powers of her daughter, after years of claiming to be pro-supers. "My daughter is currently working with a professional to hone her talents in a safe environment, and I waited until we felt like she was old enough to handle it before moving forward with that. I don't know if you know this, but if you checkout my article posted in LifeTIME magazine, last year, but still relevant - I spoke about studies that I had conducted myself and how it compared to earlier studies by genetic specialists who focused on metaphysical abilities. Allowing small children free range with their superpowers is nearly as dangerous as forcing power usage on small children. Unfortunately, we didn't know that when a lot of you were younger, and that's why so many supers seek out professional help, which… sidenote, one of my companies is in the process of creating a network specifically for the psychological and psychiatric needs of supers. My daughter's generation gets to live in a time where supers are given healthy choices that make them whole. I am pro-supers, but I'm here to make a way for our future, not pay homage to the toxic things that we got used to in the shadows as second class citizens."

They even accused her of being a business woman playing politics. They compared her to a non-pow president whose candidacy she hated even speaking about, much less being compared to. She wanted to say, "I oughtta bust this whole building down with my fist." Instead, she played her politics by saying, "It's interesting that you bring this man up, because I remember being just a little too young not to vote for him. But, the next time around, I was old enough and I put my vote where I meant it. I'm not gonna stand up here like that man and just tell whoever whatever they want to hear. I'm not gonna make empty promises or gain trust through mutual hate or exploit anybody's struggles. But, I feel like have to educate anybody who thinks that I'm playing politics on my history, because I was playing politics whenever I was in Student Council in junior high and high school. I was playing politics whenever I was in college and decided not only to continue my relationship with that little fun group, but to also expand into a political science major to compliment my engineering, because I honestly couldn't decide what I was going to actually do! So, I kept on playing politics, in the lab, as I worked and went to school, had to practically revamp a college's system in order to finish on time, which for me was ahead of schedule, and whenever I continued my education, qualified to be this engineering technologist, I got me a nice little job in this cool little outfit called the Hero League, you may know it as the place that I'm trying to be president of… OH YEAH! I WAS THE FREAKING CHIEF TACTICAL ADVISOR!"

"Drop the mic, Baby!" Henry yelled. She laughed, but he was seriously nodding, so she picked up the mic, dropped it too hard and it crashed through the podium. He "WOOOOOOO!"'d again and she wondered if she was now as crazy as him, for even listening to that, but the audience went crazy. She then remembered, _these are the same people who have had Ray as president of this organization for a dozen years… On purpose!_

She hadn't even mentioned that she had two apps blast off before she finished her two of her degrees and that one of them was law, which she got just to make sure that she knew everything about her businesses. She didn't need to… This was gonna happen…

.

Whenever Ray passed the mantle to her, he looked so proud. Katelyn was getting old and he wanted to take her on a road trip around the world. Jasper and Barfield were going to go, and in their minds they were gonna somehow pick up girls? In and RV with an infant and a dog, with two guys who are like 20 years apart in age? "Chicks love dogs and babies. We're gonna be swimming in it," Ray said.

Charlotte frowned, as they changed over passwords to her and she created new ones, even though she knew all of Ray's all this time later. "I didn't think that Jasper even picked up girls anymore. The last girl he was interested in was in college, so maybe you ought to get things straight?"

"Dudes also love dogs! And maybe babies! I don't know, Charlotte! Jasper and I are having a grand adventure!" He snapped. She laughed and nodded. He placed both hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. This was one of their most intense moments. She had no idea what was going to happen. "I'm proud of you, Charlotte." She blushed and nodded her head. Here she was, 36 years old and still getting satisfaction in the rare times that this man actually paid her a compliment. "You're gonna be great at this. And when you get tired of it, you oughtta go run for President of the United States, JUST to show them that you can!" She gasped and nodded her head in agreement to this ONE brilliant plan that Ray had just had. She was 100% going to run for President of the country… not any time before her kids were old enough to handle that though. The Hero League was one thing. America was always a goddamn mess though.


	37. We're Getting Old

_Hi, Friends. This story is actually coming to an end soon. Thank you so much for the time and energy you've blessed me with on this journey. Hoping that I can wrap up in another chapter or two, since I've gotten everything that I initially outlined whenever I started this story covered except for one major thing and the details surrounding it. So, the next chapter may or may not be the last, but it definitely will be ending shortly. I love throwing y'all a good curveball or two, but I think this chapter has the last BIG curve ball in it. Lol. When you see it, you'll know. Thanks for reading._

 **We're Getting Old**

President of the Hero League was a job that was somehow easier in the position than Charlotte's job of assisting Ray as the president. Of course, the family had to move to Metroburg, and that wasn't very far for them, but she had to hear all of the complaining from the family about how they moved closer just to be near them and now she was moving further away? "You're still closer than you would have been if you had stayed in Swellview," she reminded them. She didn't bring up the fact that they had been able to move out of the shared condo and that she bought her parents and Henry's parents new homes and the condo was still their property. She didn't mention that the move had benefited everyone, considering that she was able to flourish and keep them in her net of protection and provision, as she did. She didn't mention that none of them ever had to work again, if they didn't want to (and none of them seemed to want to, because she was always seeing them be old socialites online, while SHE was working and Henry was risking his life).

"It'll be you one day," Hank said, after she had another argument with Nana Ezmi. She threw him a look. Charlotte didn't like being compared to her mother, even if she was starting to gray in the same place that her mother did, that little streak in the front of her head. Henry kept telling her how he could hardly wait before she went all silver, because he imagined that would be hot. He'd been painting her that way for a couple of years now. Whenever she asked him why in the world his muse seemed to be "old lady" her, he just shrugged, said, "If you get to live to be a silver fox with a full smile, that means that I've done my job as a hero and as a husband," and continued painting. She didn't question him about it again, since painting was one of the things that he did to destress from work, she grew to realize that he'd do paintings of a future her after a particularly bad fight or encountering the most dangerous of villains.

Being a global superhero was not the same as Swellview, or even just Metroburg. Trips were longer, battles were sometimes part of a war, and his body got older, but threats didn't account for that. "You know, heroes retire everyday, Henry. Your body isn't the same. Your spirit doesn't seem to be. You either need a career change or to do something new to keep yourself going. You'll wind up either burned out or washed out and I'm not here for either of those…" He pulled her to himself and rested his head on the top of her hair. "Hen?"

"I'm not retiring. But, sometimes, I do need a little bit of encouragement, to remember why."

"Why?" She wondered, but didn't move from his needful embrace.

"Because, I'm supposed to be a superhero and there are still dangers that I can take on. I don't want our children or you to think that I throw in the towel just because I'm not as good as I used to be, or because I'm tired. Crime and evil don't take any vacations, and they don't take it easy on me for being old."

"You're not that old."

"Too old to be doing everything that I do, and with my body being what it is… I mean, yeah, I recovered from my injuries enough to walk and move again, but I was never back to my old functionality… And now, I'm nearing 40 and naturally things are declining, but I also still have residue of having all these broken bones, paralysis and a coma. Like… I'm not a regular 40 year old dude aging…"

"Then, we would all understand if you had to step down!" She said, finally looking at him, studying him, wondering what she missed for him to be speaking on his bodily health. She took his arm and ran a diagnostic.

"Char…" He said, exhausted.

"Why am I just now seeing this?" She wondered. "Do you know how long this must have been happening for these results?"

"Couple of years," he said and backed away.

"Henry… You need to quit."

"I can't. I'm helping Charlie and I'm still able to save lives."

"You've overextended the usage of those braces. Why didn't Interface TELL me this?"

"She's been with me long enough to override requests for you to get a damage report. Listen…"

"No, YOU listen! I am going to call in a team at Global Page to update your braces and in the meantime, you should get out of them and just use the chair for a while…" She suffered over these results, "You've been using your own leg power at 50% for almost THREE years, Henry!" She covered her mouth with her hand.

"Char… If my legs are declining, at least I know how that works. It's happened before and you were chill about it…"

"I wasn't CHILL about it, I was trying to be strong, because you were the one going through it!" She was ordering in a special team when Hank called in. "Hey, Honey. What is it?"

"A couple of things. One - you're probably gonna get contacted by the academy very soon and two - what is this special team that you're assembling and I didn't get an invite?"

"The academy should be contacting me for what, Hank?" She asked, her eyebrows stuck in worry mode.

"They feel like I've broken some protocol with my experiments for superpower creation and application…" She was now receiving said call. "But, the twins got an alert for this task involving Dad, so I'm not the only one doing something that might be considered shady and I ask that you remember that as you click over to answer…"

Charlotte fumed as she clicked over to see Evelyn, who was currently the Headmaster at the Academy. "Hi…" Charlotte said, "Just… tell me what he did and what I need to do."

"He has crossed the line for the last time and you need to come pick him up."

"I need to what now?"

"Hamilton is expelled, Charlotte. The Board decided that the President of the Hero League's child makes the perfect example. My hands are tied."

"WHAT did he do?"

Evelyn turned the camera to show a room of about 13 teenagers, firing lasers from their eyes, zipping around, crushing things with their bare hands… "Explicitly did not follow our NO EXPERIMENTS ON STUDENTS policy!"

"Put that boy on the phone!" Charlotte snapped.

Evelyn looked over at where she knew Hank was. The 15 year old returned to his mother's view and immediately said, "I promise that I didn't experiment on myself!" He tried to smile, so she knew that he was nervous. He was the least smiling person that she knew. Piper insisted that he picked that up from her, but she wasn't around him enough for that to be true, not these days anyway, with her own kids training for their capes. "They've removed me from my room and packed my so-called essentials, but there's a lot of stuff in there that I need. Is dad coming to get me and can he go pack my room for me?"

"No. _I'm_ coming to get you," Charlotte said. Hank looked terrified. If Charlotte was about to leave the Headquarters in order to collect her expelled son from the Academy, he was likely in trouble for the rest of his young life. She disconnected the call, still wearing her stern face and looked at Henry, who was equal parts relieved that she was more mad at Hank than him, right now, _impressed_ that Hank had gotten so far in his experiments, and curious if he needed to go along and pack the rest of Hank's stuff that he needed. She got up, very calmly grabbed her jacket and threw it on her shoulders, _feeling_ her hair becoming a little more gray. At least Charlie was somewhere acting like she had some goddamn sense…

The phone rang again and she answered, "Hey, Lady Danger, I am actually on my way out…"

"We were in the neighborhood of an alert and…"

Charlotte's Interface alarm went off and she checked her watch, "Hang on, Lady. Charlie's got her bracelet off..."

LD said, "Hey, put your bracelet back on," calmly and Charlotte looked up from her watch at her sister-in-law. "So, as I was saying, was in the neighborhood, a crisis was averted. I have your daughter with me."

"What kind of crisis?" If that girl had let a hero complex kick in…

"Somebody tried to kidnap her, so she took off her bracelet and didn't let them…" Lady Danger sounded awfully proud. "She did what she was supposed to do as far as casting a FaceMask SOS, and I was nearby and answered."

"What the… WHY didn't I get this alert?"

"You weren't nearby," Lady Danger said, as though it was obvious. "Anyway, I'll bring her home. I know that you've got that mess with Hammy." (Piper still called him Hammy, because her father-in-law's name was Hank and she wasn't about to do that "Billy's Hank," "Henry's Hank" foolishness and told Hammy he'd have to just "suck it buttercup, because nobody's ever been able to make me do or not do anything.")

"How do you know about that?"

"You know he's always hanging around the twins. Monalise texted me as soon as her grandmother told him "Come with me and you two, you've got images to rebuild." So… did he get suspended again?"

"Expelled!"

Lady Danger laughed. "My man."

"Lady Danger… I have to go. I've gotta pick him up."

"You? Not Henry? Uh oh," she said and began texting her niece twins.

Charlotte sat back down and asked, "Where is Charlie? I want to check in with her and make sure she's okay. I've been kidnapped and I just want to make sure that she's fine…"

Lady Danger turned the device to show Charlie talking to a reporter, "So then, the one with the monster movie mask said, 'She's got one of those dampening bracelets on, so just keep her in it and we're good. I don't know what she does.' And a light went off in my head! All I had to do was take off my bracelet. I knew what I do!"

"She's fine," Lady Danger told Charlotte.

"And what do you do?" The reporter asked.

"Now, that… I'm not supposed to talk about to nobody. My mommy said not to and she's the President, so…"

"Your mother is the President of the United States?"

"What? What the heck is that? The Hero League…"

Lady Danger took Charlie's hand and said, "No further questions."

"Lady Danger! This is your niece?" When Lady Danger flinched at the reporter, they jumped nearly out of their skin and repeated, "Okay, no further questions… Did anyone get footage of the kidnapping attempt? What does President Page's daughter do?"

"Today is fucked up," Henry said. "Want me to go pick up Charlie and you go get Hank?"

" _We're_ going to go get Charlie, and _we're_ going to go get Hank, then we are going to discuss the regression of your legs." Henry didn't argue with her. He knew that he should have told her whenever they first started bothering him, but that was the entire point of him having braces. They never expected him to even walk again, much less fight crime and whenever he could, it was great, but him starting to not be able to do it so much anymore… it wasn't the end of the world.

It wasn't like before when he didn't know who he was besides Kid Danger and wherever Henry Hart started. It wasn't the same because not only had he changed, but his life had. He had a beautiful, powerful wife who was just about perfect in his eyes. She gave him two amazing kids. One that was so much like her and looked so much like him that it was actually terrifying on both parts, and one that looked like a good blend of both of them, mostly Char though, but was like a miniature him and basically controlled his heart. He had been given another chance when he awoke from his coma. He had been given the love of his life when he got his memory back. He had been blessed to be able to walk again, even if he didn't do it all of the time, and he had many successful years without the need of the braces, some successful ones with their assistance and now, he was having pretty successful ones with the need for them…

They would still work, even if he lost all the power in his legs! Charlotte was mostly upset that he was having a physical condition and he didn't tell her, at least he thought. Truthfully, secretly, she was upset with herself for being so focused on work and stuff that she didn't NOTICE. Now that she was thinking about it, she should have thought to check on things like that. She should have detected if he was in pain, or seemed to be struggling whenever he moved. She should've noticed an increase in him using the chair again…

They pulled up to the Academy and Hank was outside with the Thunderman twins - Monalise and Maxine, aka Take Two. The twins were holding hands, as they usually were whenever interacting with others. Monalise was the provision of Maxine's connection to the outside world - her eyes, ears and mouth, basically. They both looked exactly like their mom, but Maxine's eyes were white and her long, curly, dark hair fell all the way to her calves. Monalise kept hers cut short to her scalp, sometimes drew designs in the side of her fade. Right now, she had two roses.

"Hi, Girls," Charlotte said.

"Madame President," Monalise said.

"Listen… If either of you use your powers to try to make me less angry, your mom's gonna be down here next," Charlotte told them, with a smile.

Maxine's eyebrow raised and Monalise glanced at her then said, "We were just saying goodbye to Hamilton. He'll be missed around here. Maxine would like to scan for details on the upcoming assignment you're interested in." Charlotte nodded her head and Maxine took her free hand and placed it on Charlotte's forehead. "That should be doable for us. We'll talk with the 'rents about bringing us by. Goodbye Hamilton." Monalise and Maxine broke their hand contact to hug their friend. Henry was returning with Hank's additional things that he had sped to the room to collect. "We'll see you soon, Mr. Hart."

Henry came back to Charlotte speaking very angrily to Hank and tried to break the ice with, "Those twins are creepy AF, amirite?"

"They're my best friends." "They're 16 years old!" Hank's declaration was less passionate than Charlotte's but he was in the middle of being chewed out by the president of the Hero League outside of a place that he had just been removed from. Henry loaded the truck and while he drove, Charlotte fussed until she finally let Hank explain himself.

"I knew that things that work in theory are just that. I needed to test it on someone and you made me promise not to test it on myself. I know every non-pow in the Academy, because we're the outcasts here. I explained the risks and got all of their consent."

"Are any of them 18 years old? Because, if you somehow forgot that is the age that nonpows legally become adults!"

"It's 16 in this state," Henry said. Hank was about to say the same thing, but when Charlotte gave his dad the look that she gave him, he was grateful that Henry had said it first. "I am shutting up," Henry said and gave Hank a sympathetic smile.

"What are we even going to do with you now, Hank? Colleges aren't going to want you knowing that you were expelled here!"

"I don't need college anymore. I'm not 10, for heaven's sakes. My mother is Charlotte Page. I'm sure I'll be fine. Especially since Dad saved my research." He smiled into the mirror at Henry. It was a genuine smile, or gratitude! Henry smiled back, proudly. Charlotte sighed and reclined her seat.

"So… Um… Tell me about your research," Henry said.

Hank was DYING to do just that. Charlotte was so busy fussing about the ethics and the consequences that she didn't even ask him about his genius!

.

Charlie was eating whenever the Harts met Piper and Billy's family to pick her up. "You owe me like $200.00 in food. What have been doing? Starving the kid?"

Charlotte sat down and put an arm around Charlie, "How do you feel?"

"Hungry and tired," she said.

"That's normal. See, whenever you're training with Daddy, you're basically just practicing lifting and honing your reflexes. That gives you a very high metabolism, but whenever you're in the field and your mind knows that there is impending danger, the chemicals in your brain are different than when you train. And using super strength and hypermotility takes a lot of physical demand, especially when you're experiencing fear."

She scoffed, "I wasn't scared."

"It's okay to be scared. I'm scared every time I go into battle, and I'm sure that your aunt Piper is too," Henry offered.

"Nope," Piper said. "But, I do get nervous whenever Billy has to."

"It's normal to be scared," Billy told Charlie.

"I wasn't. I was worried that I might break my bracelet in the fight and get in trouble, but I wasn't scared of fighting those men. They were bad and needed to be taught that lesson, but I shouldn't have to get in trouble because I protected myself!"

"You're not in trouble. I'm very proud of you for your discernment and quick action. I'm so glad that you're safe," Charlotte said and hugged her tightly.

Charlie returned the hug and asked in a low voice, "Mommy, can we go home? I wanna lay down."

"Yes." Charlotte paid the entire tab before leaving with Charlie in her arms, 10 years old, but teacup sized like her mom, who wasn't much weaker today than she had been when she realized her powers.

The rest of the family was catering to Charlie. It made her feel weird. She was used to a certain amount of babying, being the baby of the family, but they were like seriously tripping, and Hank was home when he should have been at school. "What is happening at this house?" She wondered.

Hank told her, "Everybody's just glad that you're okay, physically and mentally."

"I'm not! I want to sleep for like 4 days. I am so tired! I wanna stop wearing this bracelet. It's gonna make it harder for me to recover if I'm gonna feel this way whenever it's an emergency situation. Can I stop wearing it? I'm 10!" She looked at Charlotte, feeling like it was probably ultimately her decision.

Charlie was right. If she was going to get used to the natural way her body responded to things, she would have to get used to her body, the way she was meant to be. She helped the bracelet off of her and said, "I'll deactivate the alarms and put it in a nice display box, so you can hang on to it."

.

Henry rolled outside and sat quietly while Charlotte was looking up at the stars on the patio. "A lot of big changes happened in your life today. Are you okay?" He asked.

"Our daughter was almost taken by someone today, just to try to make me stop being the President of the Hero League. Now, something that extreme, getting a team together and plotting on a 10 year old to try to stop my work would be something that would give me great pride in the job that I'm doing, but how could they have gotten so close to her? How was she almost taken like that? Thank God that she knew what to do. How did I not get alerted the moment that danger came her way? Have I been so caught up in my career that I forgot that I was a mother and a wife, too?"

"Definitely not. You're that stuff first, every day that you wake up, which is saying a lot because so many people expect you to be so much. I know where this is coming from. I purposefully hid this from you. Hank purposefully hid that from you. Charlie is just getting older and more independent. There's nothing that you missed. There's nothing that you should've caught. You're the best Char. You're the best wife, the best mother, the best boss, the best president. They should make a "President of the World" title so that you can have it. She sighed, smiled and sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her shoulders, "I'll be fine, you know. Even if my legs do lose their usage."

"Never hide something like that from me."

"You have to dispatch superheroes all over the world, everyday. You lead committees. You have political and economic meetings. You run multiple corporations. You're…"

"Your wife! I'm your wife, Henry. I shouldn't have to find this out because I run a check on you because you're being weird."

"What I thought was that if I tell me wife this, she'll drop everything to see about me and she's too important to this world to do that, and I'm not important enough. I fight so hard because you are one of the that make this world a better place. I fight for you and Hank, and Charlie, Jasper, and my family and my fellow hero and fellow man. You first, though. I don't want you to pause your great things to sort through my issues again. So, promise me that you won't."

"I won't have to. I've got partners, proteges and progeny for that. Hank's new job is taking the lead on this repair project. So, to let you know what I've got going on. I have a medical science team working on solutions for your legs, a production team working on revising an update for the braces. I know they're the newest version, but there are some innovative ideas that Hank had that I'm gonna let him try out. I have a substitute resuming your major assignments until further notice and Thunder Twins Take Two will make sure that everyone is honest with each other and with me, INCLUDING you, Mister."

"The Creeper Twins are my surveillance?" He scoffed. "I hate them."

"Henry! They're kids! Only a little bit older than Hank."

"They're a couple of years older and about to be the legal adults that you spoke of."

"They're supers. They got their legal adult certifications already, but still…"

"They're fuckin' weird. And the one with the eyes that looks through your mind… nightmare fuel."

"She's BLIND!" Charlotte fussed. They bickered for a little bit longer, her on his lap.

Hank heard something as he was watching them on the patio. It was Charlie. She grabbed a ham out of the freezer and walked over to him, "Do you have a way to cook this fast?"

He took it from her gently and rolled his eyes, "Why wouldn't I?" He watched their parents for a moment longer and she watched with him.

"What are we waiting for?' Charlie wondered.

"Nothing. This is it. This is everything that matters. Mom had a rough day today, and Dad was her hero, as usual. And, I love to see it. See the love that made us, just working the way that it's supposed to. I hate when she's sad and mad and stuff, so I know whenever she is and Dad goes to see about her, he'll fix it. He always does. Look at them. We come from them. Whenever they're no longer here, that love that you see between them is what we should always remember them by."

"Oh my God, are they dying?"

"No."

"Why do you always make stuff sound like people are dying?"

"I mean, technically, we all are dying, a little bit more everyday…" She screamed really loud and held her heart. Charlotte jumped up to run inside and Henry was rolling in right behind her.

"What? What is it? Why is there ham?" Charlotte wondered.

Charlie went to hug her mother and said, "If we're all slowly dying everyday, I want to make sure that I remember your hugs."

"If what?" Charlotte asked and looked at Hank. "What did...? Why is there ham?"

.

Charlotte had to do a lot of maneuvering to gain herself a little vacation. Of course, she would still be able to be contacted, but only in the case of an emergency. "I can't believe that he's doing this to us," Henry said, fixing his tie.

"Aht aht aht!" Charlotte reminded him. "Whose day is it?"

"The happy couple's," Henry groaned.

"Exactly. And who made a masterpiece out of a mess again?"

"We did, with our excellent wedding planning skills." She nodded her head. Henry grabbed the current box of flowers and she grabbed another 3, stacking them on top of each other. "I just don't get how this happened."

"People change and grow up and rediscover themselves and others."

"Why of all the people did it have to be a Bilsky, though?" Henry frowned and looked at the sign that he had painted, on a cloth banner designed to look like a scroll. _Jasper and Mitch's Wedding._ "And Mitch, at that!"

"Would you prefer it was Jeff?" Charlotte asked.

"Good point…"

Henry dispersed flower decorations, floral crowns, boutonnieres, bouquets, and other floral embellishments, then went to find Jasper. Jasper had a suit that Charlotte had designed and made for him (well, she had it made. She still loved fashion, but her president duties didn't give her the chance to really actually make this herself). It was a half top. It looked sort of like a tuxedo, but if the tuxedo was cropped, and the jacket material was white lace, with burgundy and baby blue accents. Henry looked at the short vest and jacket and asked, "Ready for the bridegroom bouquet?" He asked.

"Yes!" Jasper cheered.

Henry couldn't help but smile as he presented a bouquet of light blue, burgundy(ish), pale pink and light yellow flowers. Jasper gasped and cheered, "Henry, it's BEAUTIFUL!"

"Beautiful flowers for the most beautiful dude on his wedding day." Jasper accepted the bouquet like a baby, but Charlotte readjusted him, because it just looked awkward. Then, she got photos of the two of them and Barfield, who was the ring bearer, carrying the pillow in a burgundy bucket. Jasper had Charlotte as his Matron of Honor and Henry as his Man of Honor. Henry couldn't believe that he was about to be in Mitch Bilsky's wedding. This was more unbelievable than that time that Charlotte was in Bysh's wedding… And this was now the SECOND time that Charlotte was in a Bilsky wedding and… Mitch was still an idiot, as far as Henry could tell, but he'd made amends with Jasper a few years back, because Piper was cool with the Bilskys after having dated Billy… HEY! Henry just noticed that Piper had dated TWO Billys! Henryway… Piper and Jasper lived together for a while and Jasper and Mitch became at least able to tolerate each other. Mitch apologized at some point, especially for homophobic things he'd said to and about Jasper and Henry. Jasper wasn't offended by any of it, but Mitch began to speak about how he was uncertain about himself and that he was projecting, Jasper felt like the conversation was suddenly more important and focused on trying to make sure that Mitch knew that he could be comfortable with his sexuality, if that was something that he was struggling with.

They weren't even friends or into each other, even after that conversation, but like Charlotte said, they crossed paths again, and a few months later, she and Henry were putting together a wedding, in between parenting, hero things, Henry's medical trials, and Charlie's training. But, this was Jasper. They had been waiting for a long time for this, even if this was how it was gonna be. Jasper looked happy, and as the ceremony happened to be one of the most beautiful sights ever, Charlotte and Henry fist bumped at the altar, waiting on Jasper to enter.

Mitch had two sons, who lived with their mothers, but were with him sometimes. Jasper was going to rehire his surrogate shortly before he got engaged, so he put that off. Barfield was 4 and he wanted him to have a sibling or two. He hated growing up an only child. However, step brothers totally was gonna be enough for him.

And Piper definitely vetted the hell out of Mitch, to make sure that he wasn't gonna try to take advantage of her best friend, and warned him on behalf of the Lady Lair that doing so would result in grave consequences. She was a bridesmaid, in a burgundy dress, matching the one that Bysh had on, while Charlotte and Henry were in baby blue suits. Billy had a burgundy suit, and Jeff had a baby blue one that the ladies had to help him put on, because after he got his pants on, he was unsure of what the rest of that stuff was.

Ray sat with the parents, holding Katelyn, who had on a baby blue dress of her own, while he and Schwoz were there in their best complementary suits. The Page and Hart parents were right there, too, because, "We raised Jasper about as much as his parents did," Esmerelda had said whenever Charlotte asked her if she would mind sitting with his family while making the arrangements.

Henry was hoping that they'd be a little bit more turned down than they had been years ago whenever he was at Bysh's wedding, but the Bilskys were simply that type of family. He was grateful that Jasper couldn't actually procreate with this dude, though and he didn't mind telling him that he kinda questioned his taste in dudes. Charlotte quickly remedied that comment, by pointing out that he had originally questioned his choice of a burgundy and baby blue wedding and gestured to the venue around them.

After the wedding, Barfield was going to Piper's house for the honeymoon. Jasper wanted to bring him (he like never left that kid anywhere without him for too long), but Piper told him that he needed that honeymoon trip and besides, he and her youngest son, Flynn were close in age and good friends whenever they saw each other. To her, six years was the perfect spacing. Even though Starlette got pissy about having another kid come into the picture when she was 6, she also began to manifest her powers at that time. It was unfortunate, because she screamed so loud that she injured everybody in the house, including the baby and she never wanted to use that power again, but Piper brought her to the Thundermans for her training and she learned how to direct her voice within a couple of years. Flynn needed a hearing aid after her tantrum and had been living with it for almost 5 years now… but he'd began to manifest powers too. And that scared Jasper for Barfield.

"Dude, my son is not gonna set your son on fire or anything!"

"Maybe not on purpose, but tempers run hot in your family and what if he has a Starlette meltdown and really melts the place down?" Jasper wondered.

"Then Billy would definitely make sure that all of the kids were out first!"

"Billy Bilsky?" Jasper asked, having a Jasper moment. She just led him out of the room and shut the door on him.

.

Maxine was seated in the corner of the room, 'observing' like she usually did. At this point, it was no big feat for her to sit in a room and use her mind to tap into the vibrations of others. She could "see" their thoughts and she could feel their intentions. A few years back, Hamilton had spoken to her about "fixing her condition," and she simply gave him a glance at what her mind could do - how she experienced the world, and that voice in a person's mind whenever she tried to tell them something - a haunting chorus of sorts of voices, like the echoes, whispers and innermost background voices that they had, coming together to speak to the host for her, "You think because I have a disability that I need improvement. I may not see, hear, or speak, but I absorb the world in a way that no one else ever may. I'm satisfied with who I am. I'm pleased with how my mind works. I am not my disability, nor am I my ability. But, nobody can convince me that I'm not what I should be." She didn't let a lot of people into her mind.

It ruined their equilibrium. They felt off, had headaches, lost their balance, couldn't find their voices or words for a time afterwards… And none of them had the ability to process those emotions and thoughts in a way that could be communicated to someone else. She only knew because she could venture their minds. So, she avoided inviting others in, but those that let her settle in theirs for a bit, they gave her a peace of sorts. Her twin sister was the very first bond she made, then her parents, aunt Nora, uncle Billy… Eventually Hamilton.

What a stressed out baby he was! She appreciated that he had an early consciousness. Most of the babies that she came around were acutely unaware of what images they were taking in and whenever she peeked into their minds, it was chaos and stimuli. But, Hammy had been different. He was worried, but knew that he was safe and taken care of. He seemed to realize his surroundings and he seemed to recognize when she showed up in his mind. Of course, weird adults like his grandmother on his father's side said that they would "grow up and get married." HA! She wished she could tell that lady, now. HA! We're like family… sort of. They were close enough. Their father worked very closely with his mother in the lab - anytime that she needed a specialist in any field of his. He worked closely with their father on special Danger Force missions. Their mother wasn't as close, but had some level of respect for them, though she oddly told both girls, "Neither of you are under no circumstances to ever date that Page boy." Maxine only knew in that moment that Hamilton wasn't "related" to them. She'd always had more of a familial bond with the boy. Her mom just didn't want them settling down with non-pows. Monalise was the one with the voice, hearing and eyesight, so she was the one that boys usually talked to and stuff anyway. But, she was never interested in Hamilton, or anybody else. She had a twin who lived vicariously through her, but the only place she really felt at ease in their mental fellowship.

By 16, they linked their brains together with a device that they worked on at the Academy. Their dad called it the Mind Meld Machine, because it apparently served a purpose much like the gift of an alien people in an old show. She and Monalise called it the "Merger." It helped Monalise to release her sometimes (she often seemed to feel like she had to care for her twin), and it helped Maxine to experience the world as Monalise did without actually changing who either of them were on a physical level.

Now, she was 'watching' Monalise assist their good friend, Hamilton perform his first bone reinforcement procedure for his father, backed by a skilled team of scientists and supers in order to make it all work out. This was the highest paying job that the twins had ever gotten, but it was such important work to Hamilton - for personal reasons, as well as professional. The President was there, too.

Hamilton had been granted the access to the Gaia genes and used synthetic DNA, combined with the records of the late Dr. Manchester, and samples that Captain Man donated in Henry's name to the cause; and he managed to at least theoretically come up with a way that could make indestructible (or at least highly durable) bones, in the same manner that Dr. Manchester wanted to make indestructible glass. But, Hamilton detected that the process was never meant for humans, and therefore the risks associated with it hadn't been found until later. For one thing - it was difficult for the subject to learn new information and growth could be painful. (The process, if done on humans, needed to be done to a full grown human). Learning more about Ray's irresponsible father, Hamilton had a lot more sympathy for the man. He was essentially a full grown child and had likely been in terrible pain each time he had a growth spurt, hormonal change, or natural bodily functions that developed after age 8.

"And so his mind would have processed these natural and normal things happening to his body as TRAUMA, because he was a kid and kids process trauma differently than adults do. And as his body changed, it became the norm for him, but the trauma was never addressed, just no longer painful. Which means that he still has the trauma inside of him, but can he ever even deal with it? Having a brain that might not expand very much? It's like… we've joked about it before, but he's honestly like an impenetrable overgrown child! His father was torturing and abusing him to make him into a hero and should've been trying to check whether or not he was raising a functional human being!" Hank had been fussing to his mother as he read over the notes. He paused, took a deep breath and said, "But, you peeped this ages ago, I'm sure. THIS is why you're so gentle on him, isn't it?"

"I'm not always gentle on him, but I definitely noticed that he couldn't HELP a lot of the things about him that drove me crazy. I never looked into that work as deeply as you are now, though. You okay?"

"I feel bad for kids that have bad parents. Mine were the best, so seeing that some kids are raised by people who would do this to them and not even really think about what could be happening inside of him… That's sad, Man." Hank blinked away a tear. He was really sensitive about kids. Charlotte wasn't sure if it was because he had a little sister who he'd been protective of for most of her life or because he had to look into children to understand their needs for My Little Ham productions, but he had a soft spot for kids and she loved that he cared so much about them. Because, truth be told, not much won his sympathy. He was very interested in doing what was right by people, but he was also someone who believed in street justice. He probably would send goons after somebody like Dr. Manchester if he'd been around and known what was happening to Ray in his lab. He was still the best big brother and often took Charlie on business tours, because for whatever reason, it was more interesting to hear her brother speak about business stuff and responsibilities than it had ever been to hear Charlotte do it.

She was also allowed to be in the observatory as Henry's procedure was done. They numbed his legs, but kept him conscious while they worked. He told Dad jokes and kept reminding people that he was Hank's dad. He told them stories about how the boy lasering into his flesh used to pee on him when he tried to change his diapers. "Like… without fail! His mom was like, there's literally an alert to tell you when he needs to change and when he needs to go! I think you like being peed on!" I mean, not by the baby, I'd tell her…" Hamilton gave him a serious look. "Sorry, Just trying to lighten the mood. I don't like being peed on, by the way. Now, peeing on…" Hank gestured to Monalise and Henry was more silent. "Did you just mindscrew me, little girl? Because I do not consent…"

"Dad, I actually need concentration, so that I don't hit any veins or nerves, or anything that I could accidentally touch. I'm precise, but… I'd really like to not mess up, okay?"

Henry smiled and nodded once. After a while, there was a lot of blood and even though he couldn't feel anything, he was alarmed enough to close his eyes and rest. He fell asleep and woke up later, when everyone was gone but his family, Ray and Schwoz. He jumped, startled by their man faces in his face.

"Henry's up, Everybody!" Ray cheered.

Hank cleared them away from him and reached for Henry's hand. "How do you feel?"

"Lightheaded."

"Do your legs hurt?"

"Surprisingly, no. All that blood earlier, I would have thought…"

"Can you feel them?" Henry looked down at his legs and they looked fine. He slapped one and nodded his head. Hank then asked, "Can you move them?" Henry moved one, then the other. Hank took both of his hands and helped him to get up. When he was standing and walking, with Hank's hand guiding him, unsure of why Hank WAS guiding him… He could do it himself and he backed up to demonstrate that he could. "Do they hurt now?"

"No. They're fine. They're good. This is the best that they've felt in years."

Charlotte ran a diagnostic check from his bionic arm. "100% functional!"

Hank whispered, "I'm gonna win a motherfucking Nobel Peace Prize," and he looked at Charlotte, winced at his language and covered his mouth.

"You are gonna win a LOT OF motherfucking awards!" She agreed and gave him a fist pump.

"So… I've got invincible legs?" Henry wondered, walking around and looking down.

"I'm not that good. You've got indestructible leg bones, but we're that much closer to invincibility procedures!" Hank cheered.

"So… My leg muscles are…"

"I reinforced the tissue, but it wasn't as easy as the bones, so the muscles are temporarily healed, but not and I repeat, not indestructible. Don't do any test stunts. Where's my sister?" He looked around and Charlie was seated on Maxine's lap, talking to her. "Charlie!" She looked up and came rushing over. (They'd told her to stay out of the way earlier, whenever everyone came into the room, so she kept Maxine company).

"Does Daddy have new legs?"

"Sorta. I fixed his old legs."

"Can you fix the old rest of him?" She genuinely asked and everyone in the room, including Henry laughed. She didn't know why… and nobody had answered her question.


	38. Madame President

**Madame President.**

"On today's special episode of Pipe Up! I would like to introduce Psychiatrist to the Supers…" Charlotte turned the TV down. It was recording, anyway. Piper double majored in psychology and sociology in college, worked as a professional counselor in her office, which was what used to be Junk N' Stuff, became one of those internet professionals who had a thriving career and an online presence/following for it, not to mention all of her old following when she was a public figure… So it was only natural that her dreams of becoming a television lifecoach came true. She had done multiple talk shows as a guest, documentaries, reality projects for clients that she had who were famous, and for the past several years, after helping Charlotte to found SupesSpace (the mental health network for supers and heroes), she had her own show Pipe Up! Pipe Up was about helping and healing the heroes that kept our world safe, but also highlighted the professionals who guided them through those processes.

It was partially mental health information, from professionals, testimonials from those who had been going through things (often heroes that had been nonconsensually unmasked, or had been forced into the life early - Piper and Charlotte's soft spots), partially tips for those in need from the very people who did this kind of work, partially backstories of those people, because a lot of times, those not in the field considered them necessary, but rarely knew anything about them or took the time to ask them how they were. Sometimes, Piper's clients wanted to share their story on the show and it would be special segments.

Today's guest was the leading supers psychiatrist. Charlotte definitely wanted to see it, but had so much to do today. She was turning over her power to Max Thunderman, of all people. She had no idea that the super community would ever forgive him enough to entrust him with this position, but here they were - he was getting ready to "retire to" President of the Hero League, and she was getting ready to campaign for President of the United States.

There were a lot of people who didn't like the thought of a super in the White House. Charlotte was tired of the gymnastics that once went into making people comfortable with having her in spaces that "weren't meant" for her. While, some part of her worried that the Oval office was much too powerful and had too many possible setbacks for her to ever be able to redirect the country in much needed ways (even some of the historically "best" presidents had a tough time of making a dent in the state of things), she still held out hope that she could possibly make some kind of positive difference in an oppressive nation in a world built upon the oppression of others.

Whenever she and Simone gathered to bring or pick up their children from playdates, she would always tell her, "You know that they're going to suck your soul out in that position, right? It's the reason that the Hero League acts in the best interest in humanity first and has sovereignty over supers. This country is a wasteland with a gated community of a certain percentile and that office is to keep the waste where it belongs and to go wherever it takes to obtain more for that gated community. Every U.S. President is a puppet and a clown…" Or some variation of it.

Charlotte would toss a shady joke in her direction such as, "Every since you got those goddess locs, you've been on your bullshit again." SImone would just smile and shake her head. Those locs looked great on her. Charlotte thought about them, but it was going to be difficult enough to run for a major office in this country with her natural hair, much less that style, as majestic as it looked. And Simone's skin was shining every since she shed all the green genes. Max was always posting "My Four Girls," her, in the middle of the twins and their youngest daughter Meaux (Pronounced "Mo"), now what 8 years old, maybe? They had twin boys in between her and the baby girl (Simon and Maximus Jr), maybe a year younger than Charlie - but Charlotte wasn't keeping up with ages anymore, just how quickly everyone seemed to surpass her height! Charlie was the only kid of all their bunches that seemed like she probably wasn't going to be taller or as tall (short) as Charlotte.

Max, with his salt and pepper long hair and beard looked more like a supervillain than president of the Hero League, but insisted that was part of his "mystique." He was the poster boy for reformation. He was what any villain could look to whenever they tired of their evil ways and for that, people felt somehow safer with him. He was always scrutinized for his past, therefore, they felt like he must've been really reformed, to not have had any incidents in nearly 20 years. With this position, Max had goals, but the greatest of them was to "Ride it out here until I die."

Meanwhile, Simone had not been involved in politics in a long time. Instead, she opened a center for supers who just want to be able to have normal lives. There were all grades of school and there was housing for those beyond school age. It was basically a supers community where nobody was expected to be the hero. She helped people to start businesses - everything from frozen yogurt shops to boutiques. She studied dance and opened her own dance studio in that community. But, The Center of Hope for Heroes (With the general prohibition sign covering the word Heroes) was in the center of the community and was the heart of it. It wasn't too far from the Mimi Memorial, so Ray settled in the community with Katelyn, and buried her in tree form at Mimi's grave. It took him a while to allow himself to care for another dog, but he'd frequently go to the dog shop to try to convince himself to do so. He was just tired of losing others and knowing that this was his fate as an indestructible man. He would last longer than most of the people he cared about. It was depressing, but the lady who owned the pet shop made it a little more bearable.

She would introduce him to different dogs, but also gave him the information of a licensed supers counselor who worked with heroes who have lost partners. "A lot of people think that because they weren't in the field with you that meant that they aren't your partner, but you came home to her everyday and you took care of her, the two of you took care of each other, for many years. She counts as a partner and a friend and her loss is no less important than if you had lost a child or a romantic partner." He _had_ lost one of those and the potential other. He never really thought about talking to a counselor about it, beyond Piper, though. After he did, he went to check on another dog, and to check on the pet shop owner. She was single… and interested. He couldn't stop smiling about the possibilities. Mimi would've wanted him to move on years ago, but his heart wasn't ready. He and Katelyn simply coped until he had to face it - not everyone made it, and that was okay. He didn't have to bury himself with those who left before he did, and they wouldn't want him to...

.

Jasper was going to go ahead and call in his surrogate again. That was cool. If it was gonna be a girl, he wanted her to be called Bushida, which Charlotte told him she didn't think that was a name and also that the word that he was probably looking for might not be appropriate for his daughter. If it was another boy, he wanted to call him Bucket. "Do you simply hate your children, or…?" He waved a hand at her. He didn't care about the haters. Bushida or Bucket were gonna be well loved and have at least one dad that made them laugh ALL of the time. Mitch might be an overgrown child, but children loved that about him.

Charlotte had so much money that before she even made her donations to charity, she honestly just made sure that her loved ones had everything that they could need. That meant all friends from the Man Cave, and now the Lady Lair - Piper's family, their parents, even Jasper's folks, the Thundermans, the Bilsky's, The Center of Hope for, the Academy, despite Hamilton's removal, Evelyn was still an important part of her life, and she believed in the school… She still had much to give away for her charity interests, technological advances, and other cares, causes and concerns. And, she would have enough to run a successful presidential campaign, hopefully while keeping her morals in tact.

Running a country with such a system in place and all of the insistence to continue it for all of the purposes that there were to continue it… She knew that wouldn't be easy, if she even made it to that point. She did still have a husband and children and thought maybe, just maybe… She should actually take a BREAK, for once.

.

Charlotte looked at herself in the mirror. She looked… similar to how she remembered. She looked at this version of herself a lot less than she had when she was younger. A lot of times, she had her hair and makeup done by someone else. A lot of times, she ate while she got dressed, or conferenced in on of of Hank's corporate calls while she brushed her teeth on mute, or looked over assignments to dispatch heroes to while she did her skincare routine at her desk. This woman in the mirror - she was some person who had been much too busy to remember to pause every now and then. Even both of the times that she was on maternity leave, she always had a lot of "not on your feet" work to do and taking on a huge role at this moment would mean that she wouldn't be able to get that break any time soon. It'd likely be about 2 years of campaigning, and then 4 years in office. She would probably look in the mirror in six years and the patch of gray that had grown across the front of her head would be a head full of gray and maybe there would be more worry creases and wrinkle lines.

Charlie helped her put her hair up and they had a mother daughter spa day, which was usually Charlotte trying to relax while a very excited Charlie, with very expensive product on her flopped around and attempted to tell her 50-11 stories. At the end of it, Charlotte never felt reasted, at all… just softer. She'd put Charlie to bed, check around the house to see if Hank was there (he usually wasn't). Much like both of his parents, he was quite the workaholic. He was generally in the Danger Fortress, though… That was what Charlie had somehow gotten them to start calling the command center from which Charlotte used to assist Mr. Danger. Hank would work on upgrading things for fun, sometimes with Schwoz's help or guidance. She found him in there, with four holographic screens pulled up with stats from businesses and with campaign projections.. "Hope you're wrapping up and getting ready to head to bed," she said.

"I don't have anything to do in the morning," he observed, typing notes on a notepad connected to his waist.

"Fifteen minutes," she said and made eye contact with him.

"Yes, Mom." She looked around the room. It felt different, but the design wasn't new. She just knew that a lot had changed since she set it up. "Miss it?" Hank wondered.

"Not especially. But, I have a lot attached to it. How are Henry's legs?"

"In perfect shape. I would tell you if anything changed." He began to shut things down and they left the room together. "Charlie is coming into the lair tomorrow, so I wanted to have everything squared away."

"Coming in for training?"

He nodded and went into his bedroom, "Homework first though. I told her that I would help her with it because Dad helped her and wound up having to look up all the answers to her math. She got points deducted because she didn't show the work."

"Ugh. He's supposed to grab you when he doesn't know what he's looking at!" She complained.

"I was at the site we're looking at for Page & Thunderman Corp. But, I'll handle it tomorrow." He gave her a kiss on the face and went into the room. She watched him for a moment, kick off his shoes, but neatly place them in a shoe rack, grabbed his night clothes and activated his computer to work on verbal command.

She went in and checked the crystals that she knew he only kept nearby because of her. "Interface, adjust Hammy's room for sleep, not work and replace his crystals and put these with those that need cleansing and charging, please."

"Yes, Madame President." She furrowed her eyebrows, and left the room. Henry was doing pull ups in his home gym and she got his attention and tapped her watch at him. He nodded, finished his set and grabbed his towel. "Did you know that Interface called me Madame President tonight?"

"Yeah, we programmed her to do that. Well, Hank programmed her to do it, but it was my idea. You always tell me that you gotta envision and claim and manifest." She smiled at him and he kissed her on the cheek. "You take a shower yet?"

"No, I was waiting on you, Dude. But, Charlie told me about you planting her a violet garden and getting her a statue commissioned?"

"I'm _positive_ that she said 'commisionerred,' because that's what she said every single time, but yeah. I'm using my allowance card, because honestly, what I promised her is gonna cost me."

"Stop promising her grand things."

"She's my daughter," he said, as though that settled it. She nodded, so it did. "She wants the garden to have a fence with purple lights, a purple birdbath, with a birdhouse hovering above it and a bird feeder inside the birdhouse - all this is supposed to be purple, so I guess I'm gonna have to decide which shades, because naturally I won't just have a big violet eyesore on the premises. There's a place for all of the plants on these grounds."

"I actually already heard the plans. I just wanna get your hot body into the shower so that I can have my way with you and you can put me to sleep."

Henry threw his towel away and set his water down and picked her up to go do just that.

They were laying in bed afterward and Charlotte commented, "You make love to me like I'm still as beautiful as when we started."

"Well, dang… I was tryin' to do it like you're more beautiful now than you've ever been!" He smiled at her. She looked emotional. "You okay?"

"I'm tired and I feel old, but I have goals and I know that I won't rest until I've met them. I just want to be able to take a break… but I guess that's what retirement is for. 65 full stop, right?"

"I'm leaning more towards 45, but…" She looked at him and he said, "Just kidding. These legs have another good 50 years. My heart will give out before they will. So… Maybe 65 for me. I already feel old, though."

"Your work is physical. You _really_ need to start looking for a sidekick, Hen. You don't want to be old and trying to train someone through a headset."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll start thinking about it. Maybe I'll create an ad on FaceMask."

"I think SymBIOsis would be better for it. More range."

"Yeah, but FaceMask is tried and true. I KNOW I'll get legit level sidekick there… if I EVEN do that!"

"Well, I just want us to one day be able to take a break, while I still have some life left in me."

"You… You get some news or something?" He asked, concerned.

"I looked in the mirror. Some old chick was looking at me. Had the nerve to be moving like I was, like she was me or something."

He smiled and nudged her with his nose, "Oh, her… I don't know how to tell you this, but I've been hitting that for years. She really does it for me. I'm sure she always will, and I just can't let her go."

"What if she gets older and older and more old?"

"I'm gonna be tapping it until her hips go bad."

She cackled at his proclamation. "She must have that good good!"

"The goodest," he said and winked at her.

.

Two years later

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States..."

Hank didn't want to live in the White House. Henry didn't want to leave the Charteaux to landscapers, even the finest that they hired to keep up with everything. Charlie just wanted to be a superhero and being the President's daughter seemed pretty close to that, so she was fine with whatever. She was more concerned about her facial adjustments and her body changes.

The first concern was the fact that she had glasses. She had to get them when she turned 11, but she was constantly breaking them to the point that now, she had ones that were much too big for her face, in her opinion and the ones that Hank worked on for her were more like goggles… So those messed with her hair, which was already a lot to take care of! The next concern was NOW, she needed braces! And… she hated the thought of it. She'd have to care for them and clean them and all of that? She hated stuff like that! For what? Straight teeth without gaps in them? For her mom's perfect set? What could possibly go wrong with her body next?

She hated that she asked! Because not too much longer afterwards, she went to the bathroom and there was blood everywhere. Now… she knew what it was and she had been taught what to do when it happened, but when it happened, she just froze for a moment, then rushed to try to clean up and score protection. She didn't tell her mother about it. She knew that she'd probably have some kind of serious person talk with her and she wasn't into that. She told Hank and he got her everything that she needed and then binged movies with her and ate snacks. He was sincerely the best brother and she always loved the fact that everybody else thought he was words like "pretentious" and "narcissistic," but she only knew him as "awesome."

They were in her second cycle and their new way of handling it whenever she commented, "I wonder now that Mom's president if that means that I can start trying to look into doing things through Hero League, since she can't BLOCK me anymore." She said it with a lot of resentment that Hank didn't appreciate, but he understood the frustrations. To this day, he had held himself back from trying to become a super because of his anxiety over what Charlotte would say, do, or think if something went wrong.

"I'm sure that she has Maxi on the lookout for stuff like that, but… I mean, maybe she'd go a little bit easier now that you're 13 and you've reached this portion of your journey."

"What does that mean? Say it like I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Well, you know, because you have a superpower, you can register for legal adulthood when you hit puberty, but you already have to be in a position to take care of yourself, for instance have money, powers, or intelligence that makes you capable of supporting your own lifestyle and needs, OR you have to be a registered hero with the Hero League. I can't imagine that Mom WOULD support you moving forward with it, but if you want me to try to talk to her, I can always remind her that dad started his job at your age."

She gasped and asked, "HE DID?"

"Yeah… Dad used to be Kid Danger, didn't you know that?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know that he was an actual KID, I thought it was a nickname like that funny guy you listen to on old podcasts! Kid Fury! Dad was a KID kid when he was Kid Danger? That means that I'M ready to be a sidekick too! He's been looking for one, but he's been training one the whole time!"

"I don't know… I was thinking more along the lines of you speak to them about becoming legal, getting your inheritance turned over to you and safely living freely until you're _actually_ old enough to be a superhero."

"I AM actually old enough to be one! You just said it! It's legal and it would be hypocritical for them to refuse me! Daddy did it!"

"I don't think you're getting the moral of my message…" She zipped out of the room and he massaged his temples, "Mom is gonna be piiiiiiiiiiiiissed."

.

Mr. Danger was appointed to President Page by the Hero League for the first ever Head of the Super Secret Service. The Secret Service would still be in effect, but it was unprecedented that an unmasked super was President of the United States and therefore, getting non-pow humans to guard her life seemed unfair and unethical to her. She had never even had bodyguards before, save Mr. Danger, so an entire team felt like a lot for her. But, if they were supers, she felt better and if Danger was in charge of those supers, well - that was the best case scenario. The children had non-pow secret service, simply because she certainly didn't want to put any of these dutiful people out of work.

Charlotte was in meetings with Mr. Danger posted outside whenever Charlie got her guards to bring her to him. He thought it might be an emergency, but kept a calm face. "Charlie, what is it?"

"Hank told me that you began being a superhero when you were my age, which means that I'm eligible for being your sidekick and I won't take no for an answer, because that would be unfair!"

"We have to discuss this later, Sweetie," he said and gestured for them to lead her back to her room.

"Just tell me yes right now. We shouldn't have to discuss anything, Daddy. You say all the time that I'm way better at what I do than you were when you were younger! I didn't know that you HAD THE JOB when you were underqualified! I am over qualified then and you need a sidekick…"

He nodded his head, "Okay, Sweetie, but Mommy's in here working and Daddy has to guard and keep a lookout, so please, let them bring you back to your room…" She squealed and hugged him and rushed off, telling her guard about how she was going to be a sidekick. Wait.. Had he _said that_ to her? He replayed the conversation in his mind…

 _Her: just say yes…_

 _Him: Okay, Sweetie… but…_

"Oh my God… Charlotte's gonna be piiiiiiiiiiiiised," he whispered to himself.

.

Charlie handed Hank her designs for her costume and her notes of the features she needed, "You can do this, right?"

"No, Charlie! Mom is not gonna let you be Dad's sidekick. I don't care what you think he said to you today," He looked at the designs, "But, this is excellent work. You… must've gotten mom's fashion bug."

"Mom? Fashion?" She busted out laughing. "Anyway… So, see here, that violet will be what we can use to keep me tuned into the Interface… And I will actually settle for goggles in costume, since I can't imagine going to battle with these!" She pointed to the glasses on her face. "This getting a period thing kinda rocks. I know what they mean when they say you become a woman…" She looked at Hank. He was still studying her plans and apparently hadn't heard her.

"And the schematics are properly done to scale."

"Ummm, you bug me about details all of the time."

"Yeah, but I didn't expect you to pay attention. I've been bugging Dad about details since I was a kid. He still tells me stuff like, "Just take it in a little in the middle and make it a tad longer in the back. I blame mom for knowing what he means by non-measurements and just making it work. But… I need to go to the Danger Fortress…"

"I'm coming!"

"No, we can't both go. Mom will flip out."

"Why would she? We'll have those secret service dudes for decoration and me for protection! I'm a sidekick now, Hank." He sighed and rolled his eyes, grabbing her hand to help her up. "Should we clean this up before we go? Mommy says it's rude to just leave a mess, even when there's a maid."

"We're coming back."

"You're gonna stop doing a project to come back here?"

"Good point, make it snappy and meet me at the car."

"Will you leave me if I'm not quick enough?" She asked. He smirked, but didn't answer, so she hauled ass to clean up their mess and rushed to meet him at the car to go back to the property and work.

.

Charlotte came out of her chambers hours later and all she wanted to do was kiss her husband, hug her kids and try to settle for the night until the next obligation. Mr. Danger was pacing, and not wearing his mask.. Which - technically, he didn't need it because the world knew who he was, but he still wore it because of work and stuff. "Hey, you okay?" She asked. He yelped at the sound of her voice and smiled at her, "Okay… Tell me what's going on."

"Okay. Well. I. May. Have… Possiblyyyyyyyyy… Perhaps… Mayhaps, even… Perchance…"

"Henry!"

"I told Charlie that she could be my sidekick!" He gasped right after he finally said it out loud and covered his own mouth, like that was going to have him to take it back.

She looked relieved, "Oh. Jeez. You scared me for a moment. I thought it was something serious."

"She and Hank are at the Danger Fortress working on her costume."

"Wait. Right now? You told Charlie that she could be your sidekick right now? At her age? In this time? While I'm the president and you're supposed to be working here on my behalf?"

"That's the beauty of it, right? If she's my sidekick, then she's just at my side in the White House and stuff. We won't have an assignment assignment for like 4 years!" He cheered, having just thought of this right now.

"Only, that's not true. You're one of the Hero League's best operatives. Max isn't just letting me HAVE you for four years. You're creating a system, showing this group how to on the job and I'm sure that within months, maybe even weeks, he'll have you in the field, on assignment! You… You gotta go tell her that you made a mistake and it can't happen!"

He sucked in air through his teeth and clasped his hands, "I've tried to, but she keeps bringing up great points and now, I don't know… I'm gonna just give it a shot…" Her face went on a full journey through emotions that he knew, ones that maybe she didn't even know, and ones that terrified him, before she smiled and blinked her eyes and asked, "Why would you do this?" She clenched her fists and then held out her hands, honestly awaiting an answer.

"Hey, I started at 13 and I was fine."

Almost immediately, she lost her entire cool, "Ray broke child labor laws, not to mention behaved morally and ethically questionable in hiring you! You were too young and it wore you out! It was incredibly hard for you and he didn't even cut you slack! If I thought for one moment that you would follow in his footsteps, I wouldn't have given you my support in your hero's journey and certainly wouldn't have bore your children!"

He _hated_ when she did this. She would get mad and go off on him and say something just nasty and hurtful like this. "Char, you're angry, so you're being mean…"

"You're darn right, I'm angry. Our daughter hates me enough already and now I have to go tell her that I'm forcing her not to be able to do what you promised her. Damn you, Henry, for making me have to make her hate me more!" Her voice was loud and high pitched and she knew that she shouldn't be doing this in the White House, because somebody somewhere would have something to say about it, but her nerves were bad about this. The relationship with Charlie had been struggling since she was a little girl and whenever Charlotte began working towards being the president, a lot of Charlie's ways and habits just… would no longer fly. She didn't understand why SHE had to be a presentable aspect of Charlotte's life and whenever Charlotte explained how difficult it was and how hard on her the public would be because of her marginalizations - race, gender, superpower, it would be even harder to gain their approval. But, Charlie couldn't comprehend why she would WANT approval of anybody that she worked hard to get it from. Why not just be herself and they could take it or leave it. Hell, Charlotte playing the game was how she was even privileged enough to feel entitled to people receiving her. She was floating on Charlotte's respectability and...

"Charlie does not hate you. She loves you. You two just don't have much in common. She wants to impress you, like Hank does. She thinks this is the only way to do that. If she can't do it, she won't hate you, but she'll be worried that you'll never see her the way that you see Hank."

"This is unfair, Hen." She whispered it, and her voice sounded almost like begging. It was breaking his heart, but of course, he would fix it. Of course, he would answer whatever plea her words couldn't form.

"Char… Just, give me the chance to have her as my sidekick. Of course, I'm not gonna follow in Ray's footsteps. She'll be fighting crime with me, but I'll be protecting her while we do."

"She'll be an easy target for any villain with half a brain!"

"I won't allow it. I promise… Char, I promise you, on us - on my love for you, on our family - that I will never let anything happen to Charlie, in the field, or otherwise."

"On us, huh?"

He nodded once, "On us."

She sat in that for a while and he rocked on the balls of his feet, eager for some confirmation that she believed in him and trusted him to do this properly. He was a great father, but he was also a great superhero and with mixing both of those things, yes - he full well knew that it would be much tougher when he had one of the loves of his life in the thick of danger with him, but he wanted both of his girls happy and both of them healthy. "Well, that's a grave promise. Because, if anything does happen to her, Henry, you're dead to me. I mean it."

"I know. If anything happens to her, I'm dead to me, too. I wouldn't be able to live another day."

"I want her happy, but I want her safe."

"We'll make sure that she's both."


	39. Charlie Danger: Family Danger Conclusion

_On November 29, 2018… I began thinking about Family Danger. I mapped out 14 chapters, plotted all the names of their family characters and the dynamics of their relationship with each other, their careers, their children and their family as a whole. The next day, I published the first chapter. That was my introduction into creating for this fan base and the start of new relationships and renewed ones from older fandoms that I had separated from._

 _And now, I am posting the final chapter._

 **Charlie Danger: Family Danger Conclusion**

 _Every hero has their own way of dealing with the harsh realities of the job. Some of us find solace in the arms of someone special, sometimes in the arms of someone convenient. Some of us paint our wives and kids, some of us garden, some of us listen to a computer system schooling us on the properties of crystals and usages of essential oils until we fall to sleep, and sometimes, we just look at the good work that we've done, and it feels good. I've been keeping a video journal since my first day as a secret sidekick. If anyone ever wants to tell my story, they would have to dig it up, but it would all be right there, and whenever I'm gone, I get to know that my legacy is carried on by two perfect people, that I couldn't love more…_

"Suck toes, Nerd Brain!"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response.."

"That WAS the response, genius!"

"And so it was. Alas, this is the final." Hank pressed a button and Charlie's supersuit vanished from her body and she was left in the clothes that she had come to training in. He looked at Henry and smiled, "I love being able to remotely transform and currently having to only code to that function."

"I thought you said you weren't gonna say anything else!" Charlie fussed. Hank didn't respond, because he'd been talking to Henry and to say something now, she'd catch him slipping again. Nope. He simply pulled up some holographic articles and continued talking to Henry, "As I was saying, to you, Dad, before a pestilence was upon us…" She squealed. He ignored it. "Your efficiency, likability, and public safety in general has decreased since taking on a sidekick. That's not to say that your sidekick isn't any good, but you're really going to have to train and focus better if you expect for people to trust you with missions."

Henry looked over the articles and nodded, "Whenever I began working for Captain Man, there was a period like this as well. Jasper thought that it was Kid Danger's fault and suggested that he'd make a better one."

Hank let out a hearty laugh, to the skies. Charlie couldn't help but to laugh too. They looked at each other, stopped laughing, glared, then smiled, in spite of themselves. They had been driving each other crazy while Henry tried to get them on the same page as hero and backup, because "Someday, I won't be here. Someday, Charlotte won't be here. Maybe you'll have other heroes to work with, other techies, other family… But, I don't want to leave this world not knowing that you two will have each other."

"We'll always be there for each other!" Charlie had said.

Hank had asked, "Do you think I'd entrust her to just anyone?"

Henry had smiled and said, "We'll see how much conviction you have when you're out in the field and somebody who's never punched a soul is stressfully criticising you for not knocking out the culprit at the first swing. Or you - how much entrusting you'll feel like doing when you think out an ingenious plan and she gets to the scene and decides to just jazz fight or something. In order for this to really work, you two have to be like two halves of the same coin, like your mom and I… and trust me, it took us YEARS to be that way."

"We'll be fine," they had said in unison.

Presently, Charlie was mad that Hank's progress report sounded like she was making her dad look bad when they went out on assignment. That was absolutely what Hank was saying, but he didn't understand why she felt like she could be mad whenever he was being honest and she needed this truth to step it up. But, laughing at the ridiculous thought of Uncle Jasper being a better hero than their dad? Classic Uncle Jasper Foolery. Hank pulled her in for a side hug and kissed her on her hair. She smiled and hugged him back. Henry just smirked to himself.

 _Whenever Charlie and I are done with a mission, she always draws out a storyboard of what went down. She wants to make comic books about our missions (omitting the secret parts, of course) and she's fine with THAT being her real world revenue, although she already has SoulDates as an inheritance and Hank and Charlotte made Charlie's Charms for her, as well. She wasn't as interested in business and at 13, not as willing to pretend to be as she had been when she was younger._

"Starlette got her cape," She said, frustrated. "She's 15 and she got her cape from the Hero League."

"Capes are symbolic, but you don't need one to prove anything," Henry said.

"Did you ever get a cape?"

"No. And I didn't want one."

"I want one," she said. "I want a purple one, one to match the violets in my hair." She wore a violet in her hair everyday and she had violets on a lot of her stuff, from her violet garden that Henry made for her when she was a little younger. It was her birth flower and her favorite color, so she liked to always have some, especially with her daddy being a "flower man." It was like carrying proof of his love for her around with her all the time. She had her now deactivated bracelet from Hank, flowers in her hair from Henry and… Well… She felt like maybe she and her mom just would never get THERE. She loved her, so, so much. She was the queen of her heart, as far as who sang to her when she was small and always picked her up and held her whenever she made a mistake that she didn't realize was dangerous, and made sure she was clean, safe, fed, sheltered… you know, stuff that parents need to do. She even TRIED to connect with her by showing her the work that she did and asking her how she felt about things and scheduling numerous Mommy-Daughter days with her. But, Charlie just didn't know how to feel the same way about her that she felt about her father. They told her that was fine, but she knew for a fact that at least a couple of times, her mom cried about it. That really hurt her. Her mom was the strongest woman that she knew, which translates as the strongest woman alive. Having the power to make her cry wasn't one that Charlie desired.

Charlie took to bringing Charlotte keepsakes from battles, much like Charlotte would do whenever she came home from a business trip that she couldn't take the kids along with her or the way that she would make a prototype of something in a design or form that she thought that her family might like. Charlie had brought Charlotte hand picked flowers, pretty rocks, nicely done business cards, and other souvenirs that the woman would label for the assignment that it was and put away in a safe place. "I do love you, you know that, right Mom?" She'd sometimes feel like she was asking too frequently.

Charlotte would always give her the biggest smile and tell her, "If anybody knows a thing or two about their love not looking like what other people think it needs to look like, it's me. I do know that and I'm so happy about it." She'd kiss her on the forehead, adjust something on her (her glasses or clothing or something), and strum her finger tips down her face before disengaging.

With some of the ginormous problems that presidents had in the past, Charlotte wasn't worried that any of her potential scandals would ever be an issue that she couldn't live with. So, despite the fact that she was the leader of the free world, if Hank alerted her with a, "Mom, I need your genius," she was putting that "free world" on hold. Hell, at least she wasn't golfing! Hank did his best not to trouble her, but he knew whenever he was at even the slightest bit of a loss for an idea that meant that Charlie and Henry were possibly in danger and he couldn't let it be on his conscious or pride if something didn't go right. He'd check in quickly with his mom (who would usually just calmly ask him what he was thinking, then affirm that idea was better than any that she could come up with. It was done enough to the point where he got confident enough to KNOW that he knew his stuff and didn't think to even call her.

The Danger Force Family Jet was his baby. He had bought it off of profits of his medical technology company, for his father and it was the most expensive thing that he had ever gotten for either of his parents! That excited him. He basically synched the systems of their home, his Washington DC lab, the Lady Lair, and associated hero allies, apps, and systems that Mr. Danger and his sidekick would need. Or rather, what he would need to back them up.

Charlotte still had the ability to insert herself into things from the White House, and while they always said that Henry was in charge, he looked to Charlotte enough that the kids felt like she was in charge… until she was President. It was harder to look to her. It was more difficult to get her to come up with things. Instead, she gave them a lot of trust and affirmation. (The same that she felt that she always gave them, but not accompanied by any ideas of her own). She was impressed by the height of independence it gave them. Whenever she read stories about Mr. Danger's successes while she was in office, she was her proudest. Whenever they were in town and able to be with her was when she was her happiest. Whenever she got to hear firsthand about the missions that she hadn't been able to be a part of was when she was at her most bittersweet.

"Then, I lifted the building on my shoulders and Dad dashed out. I mean, it almost CRUSHED him, I was so scared, but I was like wedged and couldn't get out."

"She could get out, but she was scared that she might not make it before the building crashed again."

"So, then Dad was like, "Take my hand, and let go of the building. You know that I've got you!" And like, in my mind, I was like - yes, Daddy definitely wouldn't just let you die, but what if he's not able to save you from this mess you got yourself into? What if he can't do it? Then, I felt like a blasphemer, right? Right word? Because, how could I doubt that Daddy was fast enough to save me, even from my own mess? So, he looked me right in the eyes and said, "If knowing how much I love you doesn't make you confident enough, think about this - I promised your mom that I wouldn't let anything happen to you." So, I was like, well, why didn't you say THAT the first time. I took his hand and the building crashed so loud that my eardrums busted! But, I looked over and we weren't under the building. It had collapsed a little bit, but hadn't fallen like it would've if I hadn't caught it, and me and Daddy were both safe."

She told this story at the site of the building that she had accidentally thrown a villainous robot into, while Charlotte was still shivering in fear and holding her close to herself, because she had gotten on the jet and headed that way AS SOON AS she found out about the possible danger. "Are… you gonna make me stop?" Charlie wondered. Charlotte just shushed her and continued to hug her. She was kind of in shock and ready to quit her job and get back on the team, but she knew that could cause political chaos and also make them feel like she didn't believe that they were capable. She believed that they were capable more than THEY believed it. What she wanted was to be closer, in case the worse happened. The thought of Henry being crushed accidentally by a building triggered her memories of him being crushed by Max, and she couldn't believe that was still possible, but Piper had spoken to her several times about her PTSD of that event and even though she understood it and knew that it could come back that way, she hated that unsettling feeling of reliving it and she hated the new fear that Charlie was now in this type of potential danger. "Mom… are you okay?" Charlie asked, wanting to get out of this hug, but being genuinely worried about her mother. She just shushed her again.

Eventually, she let go, when Henry said it was his turn now and freed their daughter to take his wife into his own embrace. "I'm sorry, Char. I know this is hard for you and I hope that it passes soon. We're gonna get on the jet, and we'll soak in the scolecite tub and let the Interface hone in on your needs and set the entire thing to your vibrations, okay?" He knew the signs. He knew when she had been taken back to that place and he was the only one who really got it. Well, not in the way that she did. He'd always known that it wasn't the same difficulty for him having been the injured one as it must've been for her to watch helplessly and she was plagued in recent years by the fact that she'd had super strength all along and didn't know it in time to protect him and honestly, whenever these triggers were fired, ashe could be quite inconsolable for a bit. She never wanted the kids to see it, but they couldn't hide it forever.

Hank added on, "Oh, I'll bet that Interface blends lavender, jasmine, ylang ylang and… hmmm…" he studied his mother's mannerisms for a moment, "Maybe a slight hint of patchouli and/or cedarwood. Calling it now." He pulled out a spare handkerchief in a handkerchief holder that he carried around, because it seemed sophisticated and fancy and he liked the aesthetic of it, and he handed it to her. She smiled softly and accepted it to wipe her face. The couldn't hear the swarms of _Madame President, are you alright?_ Or _President Page, what are your thoughts about this event tonight?_ Or even Mr. Danger's _Dude, back up. President Page does press conferences. You don't get to mob her at a crime scene._ Or _Let me tell you like this, Man. I'm not the President, I'll bust your ass. Back up._ All she heard was her heartbeat in her ears, too fast, the world moving around her too much and wherever her beacon was to get back to her balance, she couldn't find it.

"Oh! I got this for you, this battle," Charlie cheered, cuffing her mother protectively, now that she noticed what her father had - that she was going through something right now and this crowd wasn't helping. Charlotte smiled softly and accepted the gift. "I got it from the robot when I jumped on top of it and pulled stuff out of it's center. Since it was like flashy and cool looking, I decided you might like it."

Charlotte spoke for the first time saying, "This is the AI chip. It's basically the part of the robot that helped it to think."

"I ripped out a robot's brain and gave it to my mom! I am SUCH a freakin' warrior!" Charlie cheered and flexed her nonexistent muscles.

Charlotte laughed and pulled her close. "Yeah, you are. You're a natural, Charlie. You were born to do this." And, the beacon came into view. Charlie smiled brightly at her mom and squeezed her tightly and the four of them got into the Danger jet to head back to Washington DC.

Usually, Charlotte had been the beacon. She had been the glue. She had been the law. She had been the brains. Henry was excellent backup, but she definitely had been the family crisis "go to," just as she had been growing up in the Man Cave. Henry always took care of her when she had her moments of just not being able to do it, but that night, she had her entire tribe to do this. She wasn't expecting it and kept trying to get out of it, because it simply didn't feel right to let her family pamper her, especially since, "You guys have been fighting crime tonight. All I was doing was looking over paperwork!"

"Paperwork that in some way will definitely affect the entire country and knowing this country, possibly the entire world. Now, sit down, woman and let me rub those feet while Charlie grabs you a unicorn dust brownie sundae!" Henry fussed, after the bath and he'd put her hair up for her. Hank was selecting something to watch that would cheer her up, but not excite her so much that she wouldn't be able to sleep. Unicorn Dust Brownie sundaes were more of Charlie's thing… but she would write down the alterations of how Charlotte might enjoy hers - for instance a blondie instead of a brownie, white chocolate instead of fudge, fat free soft serve instead of extra sweet, toffee flakes instead of nuts - and order from the auto snacker and set it up on a nicely decorated tray, with the crystals that Interface had given Hank, the flowers the auto florist had given Henry, and the Fun Notepad that they sometimes had to replace her work one with (Hank altered so that it blocked any of the work related content), so that she could just read something she enjoyed for a change, every now and then. It was this moment that let her know that when her term was over, she was going to focus her energy on her family, only.

.

There was an ongoing debate of what Charlie's sidekick name should be. Currently, they were calling her Daughter of Danger, in the media, and whenever Mr. Danger spoke publicly, he always referred to her as "My sidekick." She wanted her own name! "I get that you want your own name, but I also know the great responsibility and great stress that comes along with being a child hero with their own name to build and reputation to establish and hold. You are not going to be your own entity until you are AT LEAST 16, because that's when I feel like I finally found my groove and so I think that's an acceptable time for you to become officially established as your own."

"That's not FAIR! I'm BETTER than you were!" She squealed.

"Yeah, you are? You know why? Because of responsible parenting and properly administered life experience and workload," he said.

She threw a fit! She wasn't used to him making rigid rules and she _knew_ that it was him and not her mother, because it had actually been a while since they checked in with her for guidance. They still gave her very detailed progress and incident reports, composed and submitted by Hank, but Henry was in charge of their business decisions on this team. She took the flower out of her head and threw it on the ground and Henry picked her up, kicking and swinging and placed her in the temper tube, able to withstand her attacks, so she wouldn't accidentally wreck the jet.

Whenever he returned to the main area, even though he hadn't _said_ anything, Hank had picked up the discarded flower and put it in his own hair. Henry smiled at that and gave him a hug from behind. "Now, we're doing too much," Hank advised him. Henry grunted and let go. Hank fought a smile. "Are you okay? Your princess was flopping around pretty aggressively."Much like Charlotte, Hank would ask a question, but still run a diagnostic, because Henry was bad at knowing what "being okay" was, a lot of the time. "You seem like you've got minimal bruising. She probably subconsciously reigned it in whenever you picked her up. But, mentally, you okay, Dad?"

"Yeah. She's a teenager. You had your moments when you were young, too."

"I don't recall anything like that."

"No, your outbursts were different. You didn't really respond angrily, more like you responded with anxiety. You freaked out whenever you got upset. It's normal to have tantrums when you're a kid, and they look different for everybody. Yours look more like your mom's used to and Charlie's look like Aunt Piper's used to."

"What did yours look like?" Hank wondered, not even gonna dignify the fact that he had been emotionally compared to Aunt Piper with a response.

"I didn't really have them when I was little. I didn't have the room or the chance to." He laughed a little. "I had a few as an older teenager, whenever I was around Ray and Jasper, but I wasn't so much a tantrum kid. I did have some freakouts, kinda like yours whenever I got scared, but I was more of a silently depressed kid." Henry tilted his head, just now actually saying this out loud and realizing it as he did.

Hank assessed, "So, I'm actually more like you and not Aunt Piper." Henry wanted to comment on how THAT was what he focused on, but the fact that Hank had said that they were alike in some way was so touching that he was speechless, even if it was something like this. He hugged him again. "Dad-"

"Nope. This is happening."

"I don't like hugs."

"A small sacrifice that I'm willing to make."

"This is my body!" Hank said. Henry let go and patted him on the shoulder. Hank was slightly amused, but couldn't break his facade of displeasure, on pride alone. He cleared his throat, adjusted the violet in his hair and continued working.

 _My kids are special people. Not because my son is a genius, or because my daughter was born a super, but because they just fundamentally are good people. Hank hates to show emotion, but he has a lot of them and most of them are pretty pleasant and positive. He is extremely judgemental, but he has known since he was a baby, practically that he was literally just smarter than everybody that he met. So, I've never faulted him for living in that in the best way that he could figure out how. If anything ever happens, Hank is always the first one to check to make sure that everyone is okay. Honestly, I don't think that he can even move forward unless he knows that everyone is alright. He's like his mother, that way, and apparently like me in how he processes his feelings. It took this Dude 18 years to admit to me that we had something in common! I'm filled with pride about that, but I also always knew that he was just as soft as me. Showing it though, makes him uncomfortable. When he was young, I worried that kids at the academy might have caused him some kind of harm or trauma that made him that way, but his mom was never very affectionate either, until after my attack. I don't even want him to have to live through anything like that, on either side of it. So, if what I've got is a snooty mini-me who insults everyone with a simple motion of his eyebrows and rarely blesses them with his personal space and bodily contact - I'll take it. He's a Nobel Peace Prize winner. He doesn't have to hug anybody if he doesn't want to… Not that he would've had to before that title! I'm just tryin' to brag on this Dude that I helped to make._

Charlotte read about the report of Charlie's tantrum and linked in to the temper tube. Charlie was thwacking it with the heel of her hand until Charlotte's voice said, "Hey, you're gonna fracture your wrist on that impenetrable glass and be out of service for at least 8 weeks. Having super strength doesn't make us invincible, remember?" Charlie stopped hitting, folded her arms and screamed. "Do you want me to keep you company while you let it all out?"

"I WANT for everybody to stop treating me like a baby!"

"Okay. But, I don't think anybody is trying to make you feel that way. We are using professional opinions and studies, and our very own life experience to make sure that not only do you and your brother have a better chance than we did, but also so you can be the best you that you can be, from a place of love. That's a hard line to walk and sometimes, it'll seem unfair. But, my parents didn't even let me date until I graduated. I had to check in with them so many times a day and I had to lie to them because superpowers were hush hush stuff and superheroes didn't used to unmask. You've got kind of a sweet deal in comparison and I wish that you could see that and allow yourself to enjoy your privilege and your good fortune. If you focus on everything that you can't have, which, I believe isn't even very much, you'll not be able to see the good things that you do have." Charlie took a deep breath. "Are you calm enough to be released?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Good. I'll send your dad in. I love you."

"Love you too.."

.

Charlie looked at her growing stack of comic book journals and wondered where in the world she might store this stuff as time went on. It had been less than a year and she had really high stacks. "Daddy, how in the world did you keep records of your adventures? Or, did you just not?" She wondered, sitting on the bench in her violet garden (Underneath which was an opening to the tubes beneath their home).

"I have video journals that are saved to microchips," he said, working diligently on a flower crown.

"Hwat? Video Journals… Like, you RECORD yourself telling your secrets? What if someone found them before supers were out?"

"Well, I hid them well. Do… You want me to show you?" He wondered, looking up from what he was doing, momentarily. "Your mom made me an entire video journaling booth a few years ago whenever we were constructing the Danger Fortress underground. I could have Hank get you your own drive to upload yours to, maybe even your own booth, at some point."

"I'm more curious in seeing what you had to say in your video journals… But, I know that's private."

He thought for a moment, tilting his head from one side to the other, and shrugged his shoulders, "I think that we've been pretty open with you and your brother about things that happened in our lives. It shoul;d be fine. There's one bit that I'd love to keep you away from, but I'll just restrict the access to those."

"Can… we do that now. I know that's a super important floral crown, but…"

He smiled and said, "All done," and placed it on her head. "Hot damn, that's one of my best ones. Yeah, we can go now."

He sat her in the booth, showed her the different controls and started it out for her, from the beginning, and she was engaged from the moment she heard and saw this child that she knew was her dad in smol form say, "It all just kinda happened. I wanted an afterschool job…"

Henry came into the house, where Charlotte was in the kitchen with Hank while the Super Secret Service was on the grounds. She smiled at him and said, "I'm making some tea, if you want… where is my daughter?"

"She's in the booth watching my old Kid Danger journals."

"Oh my God, those!" Hank said, laughing and stirring the tea in his little teacup. This kid, well adult man, often tickled Henry. He was a unique dude. This tea set was actually his, that he had bought because he just wanted to have a nice tea set. He bought things like… Well, he had a collection of several feather quills, and fancy ink to dip them in. He had a wax seal for letters. He liked actually WRITING letters. Mostly to his mom, for special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries and stuff, but he also wrote encouraging postcards to Charlie for missions. He didn't really write to Henry much, but that was because he knew Henry didn't like reading with his dyslexia and he didn't want to make him feel compelled to read stuff.

But, Hank also had a pocket watch with a chain, which he turned into a Whiz Watch and also his music listening device. He also collected figurines of heroes that he knew personally and had a copy of EVERY form of Kid Danger, Mr. Danger, Lady Danger and Daughter of Danger that there was.

He ran the Danger Force Family Official Website and had a section where any fan art could be submitted, as long as it didn't violate the content guidelines. Like… online he saw hella "Mr. and Lady Danger shipping and he reported it EVERY time. Yeah, that might have been petty, but that was gross and he didn't want to see it on Blue Ivy's Internet. Another fixation of his - Blue Ivy. He had everything that she ever done and had gone to see her multiple times. "Sit down. Have tea with Mom," he said. "I'm gonna stay here tonight, but I'll be in the Fortress finishing some things for the office."

Henry said, "Well, are you gonna deal with that cape situation?"

"I am not," Hank said as he left the room.

Charlotte laughed and shook her head, "What did I miss?"

"Hank tormenting his sister about her not being eligible for a Hero League cape by flaunting his fashion cape collection at work."

"But, they're not even the same type or style of capes," Charlotte pointed out.

"I swear, you cloned your brain and put it in our child. That doesn't matter to Charlie! She wants a cape and Hank has capes in almost every color."

"And many materials. His cape collection is very impressive and screams bougie old queen."

"Well, now she wants a cape now more than ever and he doesn't want to make her one because he says she can't be her best self and be copying his "steelo."

"Technically, she's been wanting a cape since Starlette got hers, so really it's HER steelo she's copying."

"She's not copying ANYBODY'S steelo and I wanna also retire the word steelo from this conversation. She told me that she wanted a purple cape to match her flowers in her hair. As long as her cape is unique to her, she needs to have one, because why not? She's a kid and she wants it."

"Huh. Yeah. I agree. We'll get her a cape," Charlotte said and opened her notebook.

"What're you doing?"

"Making my daughter a cape."

"Is it gonna be some kind of super cool, super cape or something?"

"Yep. And super dope Charlie swagger." She showed him what she was planning. "I'm gonna make it violet on the inside and black on the outside with actual violets as the pattern."

"Fresh to death," Henry commented.

"Totally her style, but still matching your black, silver and gray color scheme. The features of the cape will include flame resistance, cloaking technology, and shielding support."

"Hotness on hotness," Henry said.

"She'll finally have something in her uniform that I made, and even though she might not wear it everyday, she'll at least be taking me into battle with her."

"Awww." He gave her a fist bump and proceeded to steeple himself some tea.

.

There weren't a lot of different things that someone with Charlie's heritage could do. Everyone in her family was a living legend, and her mom's side even had non-pow star power. In order to be worthy of the Page name, her mother's reputation, her father's legacy, her brother's support… She felt like she needed to go above and beyond. She pushed herself harder than they all wanted her to. She practiced when she was alone, to hone things that her father didn't feel like she was ready for, and she was a little more focused on where she wanted to go after watching over his journal entries from his youth. She also understood her parents' protectiveness and cooperated with them more when they're desires were conflicting.

She made a framed storyboard of her Cape Presentation Ceremony, which honestly was just a family gathering + house party at which she was given her cape, and her mother explained the functions and why she was so compelled to do this for her only daughter. Charlie was crying and filled with joy and excited and never wanted to take her cape off! She also wished that her mom was around more and told her that. "Well, after my term ends, I'm all yours. I'm gonna be focused on my family, and by that time, you'll be a proper hero, like you were born to do." She fixed wild strands of her hair, strummed her fingers down her cheek and kissed her on the forehead.

"Born to do," Charlie whispered to herself.

.

Charlie's 16th birthday was a little less than a month after Charlotte officially was no longer a US President. They had been planning it for a long time. She had a Princess-Warrior Sweet Sixteen at the Page Estate. The dress attire was costume (limited to warriors or royalty) or fancy dress. There were purple flowers of all shades everywhere, and the favors were swag bags with purple holistic beauty products, gems, jewelry, perfumes, and stationary. Charlie had given the cakemaker her order and revealed only to them what she wanted her sidekick name to be (so that they could put it on there).

Charlotte had made several party edition gumball tubes attire changes. There was a feast. It was a lot, but everyone had a great time and Charlie was super stoked about it, although when it was battle time, just the press of a button got her and her father into their fight outfits these days. Whenever they revealed the cake and sang her Happy Birthday song, Hank curiously looked to see what she had spent years to decide on.

"Calvary Danger?" He asked and pushed up his purple rimmed sunglasses with his pinky.

"Uh, yeah. Because, I'm a sidekick, I'm backup. I'm not the one that people call upon immediately necessarily, but when I do show up, there will be salvation!" She said and clenched her fists.

He smiled and wondered, "Did you practice that?"

"I did." He laughed. "Let me live!" People started chanting "Speech! Speech! Speech!" "At… At my birthday party?"

Charlotte took the floor and there were cheers, "Okay, okay. So, we're very thankful that everyone made it for this important celebration of our daughter, Charlotte II, true royalty in our eyes. She's always been our little princess warrior and now that she's old enough and trained enough, she's vowed to dedicate herself to being the same for others. It was tough to let her, but it would have broken our hearts to try to hold her back, as well. I present to everybody, the birthday girl, Mr. Danger's legacy, the newest superhero in the Hero League database, complete with an official cape, though she's got an upgrade in her abundance of gifts," She winked at her and Charlie squeed at the mention of a cape upgrade. Hank flipped his fashion cape and Charlie swatted it away, so it wouldn't hit her. "Daughter of President Charlotte Page and Henry Page, aka Mr. Danger, a hero who always knew what she wanted to be… Calvary Danger!"

Charlie smiled and came forward, kissed and hugged her mom then watched her return to her seat and kiss and hug Henry. "Wow. I didn't know that you have to do birthday speeches and I don't like speeches, but I like talking, so I can tell you all some things. When I was little, I thought that every girl wanted to be a superhero when she grew up. I looked up to my dad and it was the most natural thing for me to want to follow in his footsteps that I simply presumed that's what all girls did. I didn't even really know that everybody's dad wasn't a super, because, hello - Metroburg?" They laughed a little bit, "But, what I didn't realize at the time was that my mom was a hero too, in her own right. She didn't like to get in the field, but PageMaster changed the world on many occasions that I didn't grasp until I was older. I wish I had admired her more, in my youth, but I'm really proud that I was made from these people, that my destiny was to be this person that I am. I thought that I had my dad to thank, and I do and I'm grateful, because I never would have been me without him, but I'm thankful for you too, Mom. You were such a wonderful mom, and doing that while being what you were everywhere else? You're Supermom.

Hank told me years ago that when you're gone, both of you that he wanted to remember the love that made us. Well, I never want to think about you two being gone, but I am filled with the love that made us and I've never been prouder of who I am than when I look at the two of you and get reminded of who I come from. Thank you. You've always told me that I was a gift to you, but truly, you two were a gift to me, and to Hank." Again, she whispered, "Thank you," you know… provoking people to tears and stuff. The next time a lot of these people would see her, it'd be in the news, after a heroic mission.

She was a sidekick, but someday, SHE'd be the Fortress commander! She could envision it every since she was little. Her mom was now back into the fold, being the "Schwoz." Her brother was the "Charlotte," and she was gonna be even better than her number one hero was, someday. It was her birthright. She hugged and kissed her parents and Hank started the music for everybody to get up and dance.

 _ **It didn't all just sort of happen. I was born to do this. My dad once thought that a chance interview gave him the opportunity to become a sidekick. But the gag is, I'm sure that was all on the universe's plan. You see, I am the hero that I was always meant to be. And the reason I'm able to be that hero is because my dad, Mr. Danger was brought up as one to pave the way for me… not just his sidekick, but his legacy. The future of our family name. Blowing bubbles and fighting crime was cute and all, but I don't just fight crime. I eliminate it. I. Am. Calvary Danger.**_


End file.
